


Canonisation

by CressidaIsolde



Category: Saints Row
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-18
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-01-01 23:11:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 44
Words: 90,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1049695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CressidaIsolde/pseuds/CressidaIsolde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one-shots detailing the sometimes-strained relationships between the F!Boss and her lieutenants. Pairings .. possible? But as yet undetermined. Saints Row 1 - 2.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Silhouette Serenade

"You have the worst fucking taste in music, kid," said Johnny.

Kate slid her eyes towards him, hands on the wheel as she pulled away from the kerb. "See," she said. "First thing I was expecting to hear out of your mouth was 'hey, thanks for saving me,' maybe a 'that was a close one'."

She caught a glimpse of white teeth next to her. "Oh, don't think I'm ungrateful, kid. I'll even throw in a 'nice job' if you're that upset about it."

"Well that's sweet of you," she said. "But I think the moment's passed." She looked down at Johnny's leg, at the blood soaking the buckshot-peppered fabric. "How's your knee?" she asked, turning her eyes back to the road. She was heading down Adept Way, back to the Row. The sun was slowly setting, turning the sky purple. She smiled, faintly.

"Fuckin' hurts," said Johnny. "But – eh. Had worse."

"Really?" she asked, her brow furrowing. "Looks kind of-"

"Yeah, it's fine," He waved a hand lazily. "Most of the shot's still in there. Not like a bullet straight through the kneecap. Now that hurts like a motherfucker."

"You need me to take you to a doctor or anything?" Kate's eyes were drawn to the wound, caught on the dark red stain. It was mostly dried, now, but his leg was almost saturated.

"Yeah, there's a guy we normally use," he said. "I'll give you directions when we get closer. But stop trying to distract me. What I'm concerned about, right now, is this fuckin' song, on this fuckin' radio station. The Faction. What are you, fifteen?"

"What are you, thirty-eight?" Kate retorted, a little too defensively. "I like this song. And this station."

"This guy sings like a girl," said Johnny. "And does this song have fuckin' violins in it?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Look, Gat," said Kate. "Get off my dick. My car, my rules."

Another grin. "It's 'Gat' now?"

She couldn't stop her own smile from spreading over her face. "If you're holding out for 'Mr Gat', you're dreaming."

He laughed. "That's not quite my style. And is this dinky little Socialite actually your car?"

"It has four doors," she snapped, actually offended. Whatever he said, he seemed to touch a nerve. "And a decent top speed. That's all I fucking want in a car. I can drop you off here if you'd rather not be seen in it. I'm sure, with that knee, it'd only take you eight hours or so."

"So," he said, drawing the word out. "Where'd you think you'd be right now if I hadn't stabbed Green in the foot, huh?"

The retort she'd been already planning died on her lips. It was replaced with a sinking feeling of shame.

"Uh," she said, and for the first time since she'd arrived at Green's apartment she really looked at him. There was blood crusted around a split on his lip, and he had a black eye behind his sunglasses. An angry red bruise ran the length of one of his high cheekbones. His smile had cracked the split open again. He lifted his hand to wipe away the trickle of blood from his chin.

She bit her lip. "You okay?" she asked cautiously, remembering the full clip he'd emptied into Green's body as it lay lifeless on the floor. "They didn't-"

"Like I said, kid," he said, a faint hint of menace threading through his tone, "I'm fine."

She was silent, for a moment, watching the road Kate looked uneasily over her shoulder, watching for a flash of yellow she was sure was coming. "You think we got away okay?"

Johnny glanced in the wing mirror. "Let's hope so, because you're not evading anyone by driving ten miles under the speed limit."

The jibe defused the tension, and she smiled. "Dick," she said, then, "sorry I didn't get Tanya."

"Oh," laughed Johnny. "Don't be. If you'd killed that bitch without me getting a shot in, I'd be fuckin' pissed. I got something special planned for her."

She smiled, but didn't say anything. As she turned onto the bridge, she could see the sun, a dim golden circle through the evening smog that hung over the city. She pulled the sun visor down to shield her eyes.

"Looking forward to it," she said.

She watched as he leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes.

"You, um, want to get some Freckle Bitch's?" she asked. "Guess I'm buying."

"Fuck, yes," he said, not moving. "Green's not known for his hospitality, know what I mean?"

"Yeah," she said. "Think so." She indicated and began to turn into the other lane.


	2. Everything Is Alright

It was almost dark. Kate sat in the car Lin had dropped off for her, watching a group of cars gathered on a grass verge rev their engines. They were pulled up in front of a large white house in the suburbs. It was surrounded by a white picket fence, and lights twinkled gently from its windows. They were just far enough away to not attract attention.

Troy was in the seat next to her, leaning forward, his knees leaning on his elbows and his chin resting in his hands. A cigarette was wedged between two of his fingers.

"I don't like this," he said, at last. "We gotta be careful." he looked over at her, his brow furrowed. "You roll with someone long enough, and soon you start thinking like them."

Kate grimaced. "You done undercover work before?"

"Nah," said Troy, giving an abrupt shake of his head. "Just worried about Lin, is all. The further in you get the harder it is to get out."

She nodded. "Yeah. Bitch has to have balls the size of truck tyres," she said. "Jesus. What happens if they figure her out?"

Troy's frown deepened. "It ain't gonna be pretty." He took a puff of his cigarette. "We move too fast and it'll look bad. They'll get suspicious. Undercover's a long game, and we're playing it like it's a short."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Whose idea was it to send her in?" she asked, after a while.

"Julius," Troy said. "But he wouldn't have sent her in if she hadn't been up for it."

"You talk to Julius about this?" she asked. "Tell him you think it's too risky?"

Troy laughed humourlessly. "Julius don't exactly take well to criticism. He likes to keep a very tight rein on everything we do. Just a warning for ya."

"Really?" she asked.

"Eh. He'll listen to your input, but when he makes up his mind, the decision's final, believe me. I tried telling him that we shouldn't be getting into all this drug stuff, but he didn't want to hear it."

"Well, how else would we make our money?" asked Kate.

Troy just shrugged.

"Well – have you tried talking to Lin about how you think it's too dangerous?" she asked.

He looked up at her, sidelong. "I think Johnny suits black eyes a lot better than me, don't you?"

She narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean," he said, slowly. "That if I try to tell Lin something's too dangerous for her she's not gonna take it well, get it?"

"Oh." Kate slumped back in the driver's seat. "Okay. Yeah, I can see that not going well."

"What did you think I meant?" He was looking at her curiously.

"I don't know," she said. "Nothing. Whatever. What do we know about the Rollerz, anyway?"

"Not much." He fixed his eyes on the gathering of cars in front of them. Men in blue were leaning up against their cars and smoking, girls threading their way through the crowd, laughing. "They got some shady deals goin' on. We don't know hardly anything about their structure. And what gets me is that they don't need the money. Look at these kids and their fuckin' cars." He took a final drag on the cigarette and flicked it out the window.

Kate checked the car's dashboard clock. Almost ten minutes to go before the race began.

"You from Stilwater?" asked Troy.

"Mm," she grunted. "Why?"

"Whereabouts?"

She turned her head to glare at him. "Southern Cross. Why?"

"Just thought you don't seem like a kid that grew up on the streets, you know? You don't talk like that. When you're not swearing, anyway."

"What are you, my grandfather?" she snarled. "What's with the third degree? I'm not fucking grilling you on your fucking backstory, am I?"

"Christ," he said, looking away. "Sorry. Didn't think you'd take it so personal."

"I'm not some fucking rich kid slumming it, okay?" she asked. "Not trying to find myself or see how the poor people live or piss off my dad, okay? You ask everyone this kind of shit?"

He held his hands up defensively. "Okay," he said. "Okay. No more questions. You're the boss."

She turned her head to look forward once more, and pressed a hand to her mouth. She laughed, quietly. "Sorry," she said. "Little stressed. Not really that good of a driver."

"You got a license?" asked Troy.

"N-no," she said. "Think they'll check?"

Troy sighed. "No. It's an illegal street race, after all. Just hoping to get out of this car without the help of the jaws of life."

"I'm not that bad," she said. She watched the moon nudge above the low hills close by. The dashboard clock flicked over to 20:00.

"Alright," she said, and turned the key in the ignition. She took one last look at herself in the rear view mirror to check that her lipstick hadn't smudged.

Next to her, Troy sighed again and buckled his seatbelt.

She smiled as she pulled up next to the group. "So when do we start?" she asked.


	3. Lolita (Girl)

"Okay," Dex said. "So, the Carnales have a drug lab here-" He pointed to a spot on the map spread out on the table in front of him. "-And we're going to take it over. Don't go in and blow up everything, got it?" His voice echoed within the stone walls of the Church.

"If we get rid of it for good," said Troy, "that's gonna hurt the Colombians. If it can't be processed here, they won't be able to move it onto the streets as fast. They'll have less reason to stick around."

"Uh, yeah," said Dex. "Exactly. We don't want that. We're not gonna break the chain, we're just going to replace a couple of links."

"But-" Troy was cut off by his mobile phone ringing. He took it out and scowled at it before holding up a hand and backing out of the room to take the call. Dex rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you like Troy?" asked Kate.

Dex looked up at her. "I don't not like Troy," he said.

"Well, you act like you don't," she said, with a shrug. "Are you just being a dick or what? Is it some kind of issue about the Los Carnales?"

Dex ran a hand over his face. "Not you too," he said, his voice muffled.

Kate grinned. "Honestly," she said. "People are saying 'the Los Carnales' just to piss you off, at this point."

Dex groaned.

"Is it the drug thing?" she asked, still curious. "He's so weird about it."

Dex waved a hand. "He told me he had a sister that OD'ed," he said. "But no. I don't know. You just don't get on with everyone you meet. He asks a lot of questions, I guess, but - apparently you do too." He raised an eyebrow. "So - maybe it's me that's got the problem."

Kate laughed, self-consciously. "Sorry," she said. "Still just trying to figure everything out, I guess."

Dex relaxed a little. "You're doing okay, kid," he said. "You're tougher than you look."

"Who are you calling 'kid'?" Kate folded her arms, although her tone was teasing. "You can't be that much older than me."

He folded his arms with a smile, mirroring her. "Well I might not be much older, but I've been-"

"Dex!"

They both looked up to see a Saint stumble into the room, breathing heavily. "Dex, we got trouble, they're coming. They're here."

The smile dropped off Dex's face. He took a step forward and dropped his hand to the gun at his side. "Who's here?"

"Fuckin' Carnales," he said. "They're tearing this place up."

Dex turned towards Kate. "You're riding with me," he said.

"I don't need you to babysit-" she began, but Dex cut her off.

"No need to worry about that, you're going to see plenty of action. Come on."

She followed him out of the door, reaching for her SMG, and ran down the stone steps outside. The sky was as red as blood, smoke rising from the shell of a burnt-out car down the street.

Dex swore under his breath and leaped into the driver's seat of his purple raycaster. Kate followed him, vaulting over the door awkwardly.

With a shriek of tyres, he pulled out into the street. The wind whipped Kate's hair as he drove, and she had to narrow her eyes against the wind in her face. Gunfire rang out through the neighborhood, and Dex turned the car sharply towards the sound.

Kate gripped the side of the door as they passed a Carnales car, and sent a volley of fire into the driver's side door, leaving the driver slumped over the wheel. Dex tapped the brakes, just for a moment, and followed up with three careful shots of his own, taking out the passengers. They left the car, still running, in the middle of the street.

"Not a bad start," said Dex, noncommittally, as they drove off. "Gotta work on your spread."

"My what?" she called, barely able to hear him, over the wind whistling past as they headed towards the coastline.

He raised his voice. "Your-" His eyes widened and he yanked the steering wheel to the right, suddenly. An explosion to her left was so close that she the heat against her face was almost painful, the blast hot enough to burn her eyes dry. She pressed a hand to her face, not even able to cry out in pain.

"Get your head up!" Dex yelled. "We need to do this fast!"

She lifted her head, eyes watering, as Dex accelerated towards the Carnales group with the rocket launcher. Blinking rapidly, she lifted her arm as they passed and sprayed the group with bullets, not stopping until the clip was empty.

The car stopped at the next intersection.

"I get them?" she asked, her fingertips pressed to her eyes once more.

"Hell yeah you did," said Dex. "Not bad, kid. Not bad at all."

She grinned through her pain.


	4. We're The Young Offenders

"We're the motherfuckin' Third Street Vice Kings!" Johnny yelled, running towards them. He caught one of the officers full in the chest with a blast of his shotgun. Kate lifted her pistol as the other aimed at Johnny and fired off a volley of shots. Johnny nodded at her.

"Take the cop car?" he asked.

A news van pulled up at the end of the alleyway, just behind the police car.

"Fuck yes," said Kate, taking another drink from the bottle she was holding, and slipped into the drivers seat. She dropped her spare bottle in the footwell and threw the car into reverse, slamming into the news van, before speeding off down the road. As an afterthought, she hit the lights and siren.

"You did that on purpose, right?" Johnny asked.

"Sure," said Kate, lifting the bottle to her lips again. "Okay, where are we going?"

Johnny settled back in the seat. "Way I see it," he said. "If you want to noticed, you piss off some rich assholes. Let's go shopping."

She tipped the rest of the champagne into her mouth and dropped the bottle out the window. by the time it hit the road, she was so far away that she couldn't hear the smash. She clipped a lamp post as she tried to cut across a corner near a block of houses, knocking a headlight out, then swung too far back to compensate. The police car fishtailed back and forth between her lane and the oncoming traffic, as Kate fought to steady it.

"Shit," said Johnny. "Troy told me you were a bad driver, but I wasn't expecting this."

"Fuck you," she said, leaning forward to study the GPS. The world was a dark, fuzzy blur. "And Troy. Which way am I going?"

"Why don't you let me do that?" he asked, leaning forward to input their destination. She swerved sharply to the left, scraping against the concrete barrier as she pulled onto the motorway on-ramp.

"The hell are you doing?" he asked. "You're going the wrong fuckin' way!"

She floored the pedal, racing up the on-ramp. She dodged a car coming down by driving into the side barrier, paint scraping off the car, and pulled out into the lane.

It wasn't until a car nudged her from behind that she realised that the cops were still on their tail. The next nudge sent the car wildly off balance, careening into the barrier again. She yanked the wheel, sending it skidding over the barrier separating the lanes. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Johnny holding onto the car door handhold tightly.

She took the motorway exit wide, swinging the car around the intersection, and ploughing into a tree. They came to a sudden stop.

"Okay," said Johnny. "You straight up just drove into a tree. Get the fuck out of the car."

She turned to look at him, eyes wide. "Are you kicking me out?' she asked.

"No, I'm not fuckin' kicking you out," he said, rolling his eyes. "But you're sure as hell not driving any more. Get in the fuckin' passenger seat."

The news vans had pulled up behind them. Kate could see the flashes from the cameras as she stepped out of the police car.

"VKs motherfucker!" she yelled, shooting her pistol into the air.


	5. The Golden Boy

Kate walked up the stairs cautiously, picking her way past fallen Rollerz gang members. The pool hall looked like the site of a massacre, blood staining the walls and floors in spatters. The pool tables on the ground floor below the mezzanine were riddled with bullet holes, one even lying smashed in half by the weight of a gang member who had fallen from the level above.

"Lin?" she called, holding her pistol in front of her. A stair creaked under her foot and she froze. She couldn't hear movement upstairs. She took the last few steps slowly and stepped out onto the floor. Her footsteps were the only thing she could hear.

"Lin?" she said, again, quietly. She pushed open a door marked 'STAFF ONLY'. It had been an ambush, after all, maybe she wasn't here at-

And then she saw her, slumped over and tied to a chair.

"Lin!" she said. "Jesus! Are you-"

She crouched behind the chair, pulling a knife out of her pocket to slice apart the ropes that held her.

She blinked.

She was looking up at the ceiling. There were two blurry shapes standing over her.

"We made a lot of noise," said one of them. "Cops are on their way."

"It's best that we leave, then," the other one said. He sounded older, and spoke in a calm, clipped tone. "Let's take our guests for a ride."

The first figure slowly lifted something over his head, then brought it down towards her face. Kate closed her eyes before it could hit.

They were moving.

Kate could hear the rumble of the car beneath her, although all she could see was black. Was she blind?

"Hey."

She could hear a voice in the darkness. She tried to speak.

"Nngh?" was all she could manage.

"Kate?"

"Lin?" she asked, her voice strained.

"Yeah," Lin said. "You okay?"

"Face hurts," Kate muttered.

"Tell me about it."

Kate could feel Lin moving next to her, her foot next to Kate's ear. "Where are we?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure this is the trunk of my fuckin' car," said Lin. "Assholes. Look, don't worry. We're going to be okay."

"'Kay," said Kate, trying to blink the fuzz away from her head.

"Help me reach my lighter, okay?" said Lin. "Should be in my back left pocket."

"Fucking need a cigarette?" Kate asked, trying to wriggle around, pressing her feet against the side of the trunk to move. She managed to maneuver herself so they were almost back to back.

"Trying to burn the goddamn ropes, dumbass," said Lin. "Hey, you've almost got it. Just reach-"

The car shuddered to a halt beneath them.

"Fuck," Lin swore.

They heard the doors open, then footsteps walking around slowly to the back of the car. There were muffled voices outside.

"Shit," said Lin. "Okay, don't say anything. This is going to be okay."

The trunk opened, revealing two figures - a different two figures - standing over them..

"The hell?" One of the men took a step back. "What are you-"

"Donnie!" screamed Lin. "I don't know what's-"

The sound of a gunshot tore away the rest of her sentence.

"What are you doing?" Donnie yelled. "That's my girl!"

"See that?" The other man gestured towards Kate with the gun he was holding. "They're working together. Lin's working for the Saints." He pulled the trigger again, sending a white-hot dart of pain through Kate's chest. She gasped, but struggled to draw breath.

"Sorry to have to deliver the news in this manner," said the man calmly, as he closed the trunk firmly. "But it's better that you-" The rest of the sentence was cut off as the trunk slammed shut. The car began to rock back and forth.

"You okay?" asked Kate. "Lin?"

"Mm," Lin replied. "Okay. I just- lighter?"

Kate wriggled her hand into Lin's pocket, scraping her wrist raw against the rope. The bullet in her chest hurt with every movement she made, but she finally managed to close her hands around a metal case. "Got it!" she said.

"G- good," mumbled Lin. "Careful. Yours first. Gon - gonna be okay. Ha. Did you hear Donnie? He called me - his girl."

The car tilted violently, and then fell, hitting the surface with a splash. Water began to flow into the trunk through the outline of the car trunk door.

"When we get out we can tell him he's got you all wrong," said Kate.

"He's a sweet kid," said Lin, weakly. "Not the brightest, but - he's got a good heart. Don't hurt him."

"I won't." Kate scraped her fingers over the lighter once, twice, before she managed to light it.

"Wish I'd known you better," said Lin. "Saints - saints need more wom-"

Kate felt the rope behind her catch fire, hot against her wrists, before she managed to tear it apart. The water was pooling on the floor under them, almost reaching her ears. Kate reached for Lin, but she pulled away.

"Get out," said Lin. "Get us out, just - get to land."

Kate kicked at the door overhead, bracing herself against the floor and walls. She pounded her feet against the catch, over and over, until she finally felt it give. Freezing water began pouring into the trunk, and before she could react, was lifting her up. She gasped as she reached the surface.

"Lin!" she screamed. She looked down at the car beneath. The headlights were shining under the water, dim and wavering. "Lin!" she screamed again, then tried to dive down. She didn't make it more than a metre before needing to return to the surface to gasp for air in pain.

She looked around, and saw a boat ramp leading out of the water a few yards away. She kicked towards it and dragged herself onto the concrete, dripping trails of water behind her. She was shaking, not sure if it was because of the cold or blood loss, and she reached into her pocket for her phone on her hands and knees.

It was off, and for a moment she panicked, thinking it was dead. She shook it, then hit it gently on the rough concrete, trying to clear the water out of it.

With unsteady fingers she hit the power button.

The chime it made as it turned on sounded like the best thing she'd ever heard. She scrolled through her contacts list, the rough concrete digging into her knees. Dex. Julius. Johnny. Lin. Troy. She lingered on Troy, and then hit the call button.

The dull electronic ring seemed to go on forever.

"Yeah?" the voice on the other end of the line answered, eventually.

"Troy I need help!." The words came out in a rush, over her chattering teeth. She stared at the phone on the ground in front of her like it was a lifeline. "They shot Lin and me and I can't get her out and she's in a car in the water and I don't know where the old guy went and I don't know what to do!" She felt hot tears dripping down her face and was shamefully grateful for the warmth.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Troy, sounding more alert. "Slow down. What's happened?"

"He shot Lin," said Kate, quietly. "Both of us. Ambush. You were right. They put us in a car and pushed us off the pier. She's still in it."

"Okay," said Troy. "Got that. Where are you?"

Kate took an unsteady breath. "I can - I can see the Ultor Dome. Just south of here."

"Okay," said Troy again, slowly and clearly. "I'm going to send you two ambulances and the police dive squad to get Lin. Don't worry about the police. When they get there, your story is Lin's boyfriend - don't give a name - shot you both, dumped you in a car and pushed you off the pier. They won't ask for anything else at the scene."

Kat blinked at the phone. "Okay," she said.

"Good," said Troy. "Hang in there. Help's on its way."

She spat blood onto the ground and stared at it, almost black in the darkness. It wasn't until she heard the sirens coming towards her that picked her phone back up.

* * *

She blinked.

She was warm, and comfortable. This was probably the best bed she'd slept in for a year. The room was white and clean. Her arm was bandaged close to her side.

Troy had been sitting on a chair next to her bed. When he saw her eyes open, he stood up. Dex was just behind him.

"H-hey," she croaked.

"You okay?" he asked. "Things weren't too sure with you for a bit."

"Mm," she said, dozily. "Feel good."

"That'd be the sedatives," said Dex. "See if you can get a prescription for those."

Kate smiled, feeling her dry lips crack.

"We're checking you out, Katie" said Dex.

"And we've gotta leave now," Troy added. "Cops will start wanting to ask you some questions now you're awake."

"Kate," she corrected, slowly, her brain fuzzy.

"Really?" Dex grinned.

"Katie sounds like... freckles. Pigtails." It was a struggle to form sentences.

"Well you got the freckles already," said Dex with a shrug.

She smiled. Things were back to normal. "Where's Lin?" she asked, getting out of bed unsteadily. "Is she near-"

She saw Dex's face freeze. He sighed. "She didn't make it," he said. "Sorry. I'll bring the car around."

She felt her stomach sink as she watched him duck out of the room.

"But-" she whispered.

"Everyone did all they could," said Troy. "I'm sorry."

Kate pressed a hand to her lips. "This shouldn't have happened."

"Yeah," said Troy, bitterness seeping into his voice. "It fuckin' shouldn't have."

Kate was almost at the door when he spoke again.

"Why'd you call me?" he asked. "When you needed help?"

She blinked at him. "You – you'd know what to do," she said. "You always know what to do."

She didn't quite understand the look he leveled at her. "Okay," he said, finally. "Let's go."


	6. Meet Me In The Dark

Troy and Dex had been waiting for her in the church. Dex was leaning against the altar, arms folded, while Troy stood slightly to the side, cigarette in hand.

"You sure you're up for this?" Dex sounded concerned, but the look in his eyes was more calculating. Measuring.

"I'm not going to be a liability," said Kate. "If that's what you're asking. Didn't you say we're just going to talk to this guy?"

He sighed. "Yeah, just going to talk. Orejuela's a major player in the Colombians, though. We need this to go well."

"Don't see why we can't just take him out right now," said Troy. "Solves all our problems, right? Cuts the Carnales right out of the supply."

Dex glared. "This again? No. There's too many uncertainties. Who knows what the Colombians are gonna do if we off this guy? We're keeping things civil for as long as possible."

Kate lifted her hand to her face and rubbed the fading red scar on the bridge of her nose, one of the last reminders of the last time she'd been out.

"And put some makeup on to cover that," Dex added. "This guy likes women to be dressed up."

"Or not so dressed up," said Troy. "You're looking for him at a fucking strip club."

"Well - you know what I mean," said Dex. "Meet back here in 30 minutes."

Kate grimaced as she peered into the mirror in her bathroom. It was small, barely enough for her to see her whole face, and a crack was beginning to work its way up from the bottom left corner. She dabbed concealer onto her face carefully, wincing as she touched the tender skin. She applied foundation over the top, added some rouge, and was halfway through putting mascara on when she caught her own eye in the mirror.

What are you doing? her reflected self seemed to say to her. What in the fuck are you actually doing? You're going to a strip club to see a drug lord.

"Jesus." Kate screwed her eyes shut. "Fuck off. I've done worse things to get by."

Like shooting people?

"Get fucked," she said. "I only shoot people that deserve it. If this is what having a family is like, I'll shoot some more. Now are you going to let me finish my eye makeup?"

She opened her eyes and glared into the mirror. Her reflection was silent.

"Good," she said, and leaned towards it once more.

"Whoa," said Dex, when she showed back up at the church. She caught Dex and Troy exchanging a rapid glance.

She stopped in her tracks, barely even inside the church. "What?" she asked, hesitantly. "Did I smear lipstick all over my face or something?"

"No," said Dex, slowly. "You just look - different. To what you usually look like."

"In a bad way?"

"Wouldn't say that, exactly," said Troy, still eyeing her suspiciously.

"Okay," she said, uncomfortably. "Can we go now?"

"Uh, yeah," said Dex, standing up. "Troy's going to sit this one out."

"What?" asked Troy, looking up.

"Yeah man," said Dex. "See you later."

Kate followed with a shrug.

"Okay," said Dex as they got into his convertible. "Let me do the talking. We can't fuck this up."

She pulled her hair into a ponytail to stop it blowing into her face. "What if he talks to me first?" she asked.

"Well - yes, then you can talk to him," Dex said, rubbing his forehead.

"You talked to Julius about this?" Kate asked, leaning back in the seat.

"Mm," said Dex. "Not really."

"Is he going to like that?"

Dex looked at her sideways. "Lot of questions," he said.

She smiled at him and shrugged. "Your call."

"Yeah."

The parking lot of the airport Tee'N'Ay was quiet but not deserted. They stepped out into the still night air. Dex was looking a lot less confident now they'd arrived, but cheered up when the bouncer greeted him with a smile.

"Hey man," said the bouncer. "Haven't seen you in a while. You, uh, brought a friend?"

Dex nodded. "New recruit."

"You two after some pink together? Or, uh, we've got a couple of spaces open on Tuesdays if she's after some extra cash."

Kate stepped past him carefully. "No thanks," she said. "Not really into getting groped by strangers."

"Sup with her?" she heard the bouncer say behind her. Dex laughed and caught up with her. The club was fitted out in red and pink, with girls dancing sinuously on raised stages or winding themselves around poles. The bartender waved at Dex from across the room.

"Popular guy around here," Kate murmured to Dex over the thumping bass of the R&B soundtrack.

He cast her an exasperated look. "We're looking for the Colombian," he hissed. "Pay attention."

"Let's go sit down," she said.

They took a seat at a table near the bar. Kate noted with some distaste that the floor under the table was sticky.

"Stop making that face," said Dex. "I think I see him. Over there." He nodded towards one of the stages.

He was indicating a balding man in a white suit, with a Hawaiian shirt underneath. He was leaning back in his chair, watching the dancer in front of him lazily.

"Miami Vice over there?" she asked.

"Think so." He leaned toward her. "We're going to order him a drink, and when he turns around, I want you to - I don't know, wave or something."

"Are you serious?" she asked. "We're at a strip club. There are hot girls everywhere trying to get his attention. Who are also naked."

He sighed irritably. "We're just trying to get his attention," he said. "You're trying to pique his interest. Not too many hot girls around buying him stuff, get it?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "If you say so."

Dex waved over a waitress - who was topless - and pointed to Orejuela. "Whatever he's drinking already," he said. "And, uh, a beer, and - what are you having?"

"Some kind of ridiculous fruity cocktail," she said to the waitress. "If that's okay."

"That's fine, honey," said the waitress. "And it's okay, you can look."

Kate blushed.

They watched, tensely, as the waitress carried the glass to Orejuela on a tray. She bent down so her lips were by Orejuela's ear, and pointed in their direction. He lifted his elbow to the back of the chair and turned around to see them. Kate lifted her glass in his direction. He tilted his head to the side, slightly, and then stood up.

"Shit!" she hissed at Dex. "He's coming over."

"Shhh," he said. "That's what we want. Don't worry. I'll talk."

Orejuela's eyes glittered when he looked at them. "What a surprise," he said. "I don't believe we've met."

"I'm Dex," he introduced himself. "And this is Kate. We represent the Saints."

Orejuela smiled. "Ah. You have been giving my associates some trouble of late, correct?" He sat down next to Kate, and put his arm around the back of her chair. Her shoulders tensed slightly.

"Something like that," said Dex. "We're interested in setting up a business arrangement between the Saints and the Colombians."

"Straight to the point, huh?" Orejuela said, smiling. "What's your hurry?" He turned to Kate. "Why don't you tell me a little about yourself, cosita?"

Kate glanced back at Dex uneasily. He was glaring.

"I, uh, almost got killed in a drive-by by the Carnales," she said, at last. "I'm paying back a favour."

"And you're interested in stepping in as our distributor in Stilwater."

"We can offer you a lot more stability than the Carnales," said Dex.

Orejuela ignored him. "Do you know the first rule of getting into this business, cosita?" he asked Kate.

Dex opened his mouth, but the Colombian levelled a piercing gaze at him. "I'm speaking to the lady," he said. She saw Dex's hand on the table clench slowly into a fist.

"Don't get high on your own supply?" She raised an eyebrow.

Orejuela laughed. "Not bad, not bad. But no. My first rule is this: never underestimate the other guy's greed."

Kate frowned, confused. Her eyes flicked towards Dex involuntarily.

"Just something to remember," he said. His smile didn't reach his eyes.

"What might encourage you to work with us?" asked Dex.

"Well," said Orejuela, finally turning his attention to Dex. "We've - as you might have heard - lost a lot of product recently. One way or the other. A lot of it is with the police. We're seeking to recoup our losses."

Dex blinked. "You want us to get your drugs back?"

"Essentially."

"And if we can do that?"

"Then we'll treat it as a show of good faith." Orejuela stood. "Thanks for the drink. Keep in touch."

Dex stared at the empty glass Orejuela had left on the table. "Come on," he said. "We're leaving."

Kate followed him out to the car. "You kinda let him get to you," she said. "What hap-"

"I don't know, okay?" he said, waving a hand at her. "I don't know."

"I'm not sleeping with him," she said.

"Yeah," said Dex. "No fuckin' problem."


	7. Look At Me (I'm A Winner)

Benjamin King was a man with an imposing presence. While a large man, he also spoke with an authority backed by years of running the Vice Kings like a Fortune 500 company. Kate didn't even question it.

Johnny, on the other hand, didn't seem to be feeling the same effect. He leaned back in the chair in the side-room of the church and kicked his feet up on the table in front of him. He nudged a shotgun with the tip of his shoe.

"I'm just saying," he said. "You talk a lot, but you've been out of the game for twenty years."

King put both hands on the table and leaned towards him. "I haven't been out of the game for a motherfuckin' day," he growled.

Johnny smiled lazily, pleased with the reaction he was getting. "Just wanna make sure I know who's on my team," he said. "Who's gonna be watching my back."

"You take care of yours," King said, slowly and clearly, "and I'll take care of mine."

"You talking about the kid?" Johnny asked. "Yeah, I trust the kid, she's proven herself. Not sure about you, though. Seems to me like if we head into Kings territory, you're in a good position to walk straight back into the top job, get what I'm saying?"

"I built this gang," said King, his voice low. "And now I'm going to take it down."

"We'll see," said Johnny, with a shrug. He swept his feet off the table and picked up the shotgun in front of him. "This is your show."

"You're damn right it is," muttered King.

They climbed into King's yellow SUV outside. Kate began to open the driver's side door, but Johnny grabbed her arm. "No!" he said. "Jesus, no. I'm never getting in a car that you're driving ever again. You spend all your time looking at the fucking GPS."

She let go of the door handle. "And here's me thinking that you're not afraid of anything," she said.

He leaned forward a little. "Still not in a hurry to die today, Katie," he said.

"Kate," she said, but he had already shut the driver's door behind him.

She hopped into the passenger seat. King settled into the back seat with a sigh.

As Johnny started to drive, King began to speak. "Tanya's going to be expecting something to go down so she's going to be holed up in her apartment. To hit Tanya in her home, we're going to need the apartment code."

"Who's going to have that?" Kate asked. "Cleaner?"

"Maybe," said King. "But we don't have time to figure out which company she uses."

"Why don't we just blow up the whole building?" asked Johnny.

"Because it's excessive and unnecessary."

"What if," suggested Kate, "we like, got a helicopter and shot up the apartment from the outside?"

King sighed. "Do you have a helicopter?" he asked flatly.

"No," she admitted.

"Can you fly a helicopter?"

"No," she said again, quietly.

She heard him sigh, again, heavily. "Any more bright ideas?"

She and Johnny exchanged glances. He shrugged.

"Thank God," said King. "So, to get these codes, we go for Tanya's friends. She's close to her stylist, Stefan."

"Uhh," said Kate. "Impressions Stefan?"

"So you know where we're going." King sat back and looked out the window. "Good."

"Who's this?" asked Johnny.

"He's some European designer," said Kate. "And an asshole. And we're going to Nob Hill."

It almost pained her to admit it, but Johnny actually seemed to be a better driver than her. Sure, he sped, occasionally drove on the wrong side of the road and once or twice clipped a car as he drove past, but didn't actually hit anything substantial. Or stationary. She sank lower in her seat, glaring out the window.

As the car bumped gently onto the cobbled street of the high-end designer stores, she gritted her teeth and dropped her hand to her pistol.

"All the way round," said King. "And - just here." Johnny left the keys in the ignition and jumped out of the car. Kate followed him.

Impressions was a blaze of white light, even in the middle of the day. It was an elegant two-storied building, with large windows displaying the clothes within.

Johnny pushed open the door, shotgun in hand.

"You!" snapped Stefan, looking at Kate. "You are not allowed back here."

Kate felt her cheeks turning red. Johnny turned to look at her.

"Fuck did you do?" he asked.

Stefan was trying to shoo them out of the store. "I told you, no one is wearing one of my blazers over just a brassiere. You insult me. This is not 1998 and you are not Victoria Beckham!"

"You son of a fucking bitch," she said, and hit him in the face with the butt of her pistol. He staggered back, staring at her with wide eyes.

"You - you-" he sputtered.

"Get in the fucking car," she snarled. "Or I break your fucking nose."

"Not my face!" he wailed. Johnny grabbed him by the arm and half-dragged him out of the door. They bundled him into the back seat and got back in the front seats.

"Where now?" asked Johnny.

King had the rear window down and was in the process of shoving Stefan out of the window head first. "Now," said King. "You fucking drive."

The wheels spun as Johnny sped away.

Dangling the designer out the window, as it turned out, attracted a lot of attention. It wasn't long before she caught sight of the flicker of red and blue lights in the passenger side wing mirror.

"I don't have the codes," whimpered Stefan. "Let me go."

She stuck her head out the window. There were at least four police cars following them, sirens shrieking, and just behind them she could see a large black FBI van coming up fast.

"Alright," Kate said to Johnny. "Can you hold onto me so I don't fall out?" Before he had a chance to reply, she was twisting around in her seat, getting ready to stand up.

"What?" he asked, then looked over. "Shit."

The car swerved as he leaned over towards her, almost sending her tumbling, but she felt his fingers brush against her hip as he grasped the waistband of her denim cutoffs. She straightened up, one foot on the car floor and her other knee resting on the seat, facing the police cars behind them. The wind was whipping her hair back into her face as she rested one hand on the car roof for stability and lifted her gun with the other. She aimed, carefully, at one of the cars behind her, and squeezed the trigger.

She whooped as the shot hit the driver of one of the cars, sending the police car out of control. The other police cars dropped back for a moment. She narrowed her eyes, aimed at the driver's seat of the closest car, and fired.

"Yeah!" she yelled, as her shot found its target. She ducked back into the SUV, dropping back into her seat.

"Huh," said Johnny, watching the car behind them careen into a lamp post in the wing mirror. "So that's why we keep you around."

She laughed, almost giddy. "I got hidden fucking talents," she said, still grinning with excitement.

Johnny raised an eyebrow. "How hidden we talkin' about here?"

"Would you two kids stop playing grab ass and drive?" King snarled from the back seat.

Johnny rolled his eyes and floored the accelerator. The car leaped forward, and she began to climb back out of the window. She was halfway out, still trying to find her balance, when Johnny started tugging her back into the car. "Katie, Katie, Katie!" he called, alarmed.

She turned around, distracted. SWAT trucks had blocked the road ahead. Her eyes widened. There wasn't enough time to get back into the car. Johnny swerved, trying to drive around them, but one of the trucks pulled into his path. The SUV hit the truck solidly, sending Kate falling hard against the side of the window before tumbling back into the car, coming to a halt in a heap in the footwell. He threw the SUV into reverse, pulled back, and gunned the engine.

"The code is 3131," said King, settling back into his seat. "Head for Tanya's penthouse."

"Forgive and Forget," wheezed Kate from the floor. "For the love of God, Forgive and Forget."

"There's one near the apartment," said King.

Police vehicles were ramming them as they drove, but, finally, Johnny managed to manoeuvre the battered SUV through the Forgive and Forget drive through.

"Five hundred dollars," said King thoughtfully. "That's not a bad deal."

"It just seems like cheating," admitted Johnny, as he pulled into the parking lot outside Tanya's apartment. "So I hardly use them. You okay down there Katie?"

"Kate," she groaned. "Might have busted some ribs."

Johnny helped her get out of the car. "Where?"

She straightened up, painfully, and ran her fingers along her side. "About here," she said, indicating. Johnny pressed on her ribs with a finger gently. She barely hid a gasp of pain.

"Yeah," he said. "Feels spongy. Busted. Can't do much about that, though."

"Mm," she replied. "It's okay. Let's keep going."

"Atta girl," he said.

"Where's Stefan?" she asked, as she looked back at the car.

"Dropped him off up the road," said King, coldly.

She choked out a laugh. "Good. Fucker."

Johnny looked up to the top of the tower to Tanya's apartment. "I am gonna skull fuck this bitch."

Kate took as deep a breath as she comfortably could and drew her SMG. "Is it weird that I find that statement kind of hot?" she asked.

Johnny's eyes widened. "What?" he asked. She heard Benjamin King, behind them, make a noise of disgust.

"I guess I'll take that as a 'yes'," she said, and began to walk into the building.


	8. 5, 6 Kids

"What the hell were you thinking?" Julius was standing over Kate and Dex, furious, as they sat on one of the half-broken pews.

Kate flinched as his voice echoed off the stone walls.

Dex sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I just thought-"

"You thought you'd go over my motherfucking head."

"You put me in charge of the Carnales!" Dexter looked up, eyes defiant. "This is me being in charge. Fuck do you expect?"

Julius leaned forward. "I expect you to know your fucking place." His voice was quiet, but there was venom in his tone. "You wanna start your own gang? Door's that way. But don't you ever - ever - pull anything like that again."

Dex rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, Jules. I got it."

"I don't think you do got it," said Julius. "You don't fucking speak for me. You don't speak for the Saints. You have no right to open negotiations on our behalf." Julius' eyes narrowed a fraction. "And that's Julius to you," he said. "You haven't earned anything more."

Kate could see a spark of anger flare in Dex's eyes, but he kept quiet.

Julius took a step back. "I know you've got ambition, Dex," he said, his voice gentler. "But this ain't the way to go about it. You're a smart kid, but keep acting like this and you won't have a future - here or anywhere else."

He cast a cursory glance at Kate. She felt herself shrinking under his gaze. "You haven't been riding with us that long," he said. "But you damn well know better. Don't fuck up again."

As he left the church, Kate let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. Dex was sitting forward, his arms resting on his knees.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fucking great," he snarled. "Thanks for asking."

"Jesus." She sat back. "Okay."

He turned his head to look at her. She looked back at him, uncertainly.

"Fuck it," he said, savagely. "We're taking the Carnales out. Right now."

"Right now?" Kate repeated.

"Yeah, right now," he snapped. "You gonna start second guessing me too?"

"Calm the fuck down," she retorted. "I'm with you, man. You wanna go now, we'll go now."

He looked back down at the stone beneath his feet. "Sorry," he said, after a moment. "I just-" he sighed. "Fuck it," he said, standing up. "Come on. Yeah. Let's go now."

Dex was quieter than usual as they drove out to the airport district. A tall iron fence ran along one side of the road, sharp spikes pointing into the air. On the other side of the fence was a gently rolling field of thick green grass. Kate couldn't stop staring at it. It seemed so out of place so close to the middle of the city. At the top of the hill was a cream villa with a terracotta roof. It seemed idyllic in the late afternoon sun. Dex pulled into the long driveway and began to drive slowly towards the house.

"Watch my back, okay?" he said, his hands holding the wheel tightly.

"Long as you watch mine," said Kate, running her fingers over the SMG on her lap.

Dex stopped the car, a short way down the road from the house. In the stillness, they could hear the waves crashing against the beach behind it, just out of sight. Up another path, to their left, was a large, airy gazebo, standing on wooden pillars with what looked like a fountain positioned in the middle.

"This place is fucking beautiful," said Kate, getting out of the car, almost in wonder. "I'm going to live in it."

"Live in this thing?" Dex said, following Kate up the path to the gazebo. "Looks a bit, uh, drafty."

Kate laughed. "Guess we could throw a marquee up over the top of the whole thing," she said. "But that wasn't really what I was meaning." She bent to the ground to pick up something shiny. A CD. She frowned down at it, wiped it once on her purple tank top, and slid it into her pocket.

Dex was looking at her dubiously. "You really gonna take that?" he asked.

"I'm going to take everything else in this fucking house," she said. "Besides, what if there's something good on it?"

Dex shrugged. "Whatever you want, man," he said. "Okay, this house is pretty much surrounded by walls. We got front door and back door. Which you wanna go for?"

"How about we knock on the front door and pretend to be girl scouts?" she said, with a faint smile.

"I suspect they won't buy it," said Dex, shading his eyes from the sun as he surveyed the mansion. "We ain't flying the right flag."

Kate laughed. "Good point," she said. "Then let's go back."

They started towards the house.

Before they could get close enough to open fire, they heard a voice call out. "It's the motherfuckin' Saints!"

Kate broke into a run. "Come on!" she yelled back at Dex.

She skidded around the corner of the house, but had to leap back as a crowd of Carnales confronted her. She fired blind around the corner, earning a few cries of pain, before leaning out, more carefully this time, to aim properly, dropping two Carnales where they stood.

"Cover me!" she called out, before making the run to the pillar opposite. She heard Dex swear loudly, then open fire.

She took the time to aim at a gang member on a balcony overlooking a large pool, and squeezed the trigger. He fell into the water, dark red billowing into the water.

"Slow the fuck down!"

She paused to let Dex catch up.

"You're gonna get yourself fuckin' killed," he hissed.

"Nah, man, we're cool, we're doing well!" she whispered back, blood racing.

"Are you high?" Dex asked in disbelief, leaning towards her. "Your eyes are all bright-"

"No!" she laughed. "Now come on, we don't have all day."

She darted out into the pool area, took a quick look around, then kicked the back door open.

"Hector says buenos noches, motherfuckers!" she bellowed, and sprayed the room with machinegun fire.

"I've been wanting to say that for fucking forever," she said, as Dex ran through the door, firing his pistol at the remaining Carnales in the room.

"I don't get it," he said, shrugging.

"Oh yeah," she said, deflated. "You weren't there. Damn it."

"You can explain later," he said. "I saw Angelo before, he's upstairs. We need to get him before he can get away."

Dex led Kate up the stairs, taking two at a time, and out onto the balcony. Kate readied her pistol. They slowed as they came to the end of the balcony, to the large wooden door.

"You ready?" asked Dex. Kate nodded.

He took a careful step out into the doorway, but jerked back as gunfire erupted from the room.

"How dare you disrespect my father's house?!" Angelo called from inside the room.

"Your father's dead!" Kate called back. "And soon you will be too!"

He fired again at the door, sending chips of wood and plaster flying.

Kate took a step into the room, firing while she looked for cover. There was none. Just as she was going to try to dive behind a chair, Angelo lifted his pistol and pulled the trigger. Kate braced herself, but she heard only the sound of the hammer striking the empty chamber as Angelo's gun dry fired. She saw a moment of panic pass over his face, and then he turned and dived out of the window. She heard Dex turn behind her and start running down the stairs, but she ran to the window instead. Angelo was making for the garage.

Kate lifted her hand, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. She aimed, steadily, at Angelo and pulled the trigger. He dropped, noiselessly, to the ground. She let the tension sink out of her shoulders, and leaned out of the window.

Dex was just arriving, now, at a run, but he slowed when he saw the body. He looked back up at her. "Damn," he said. "Not bad."

She gave him a mock salute with her pistol.

Hours later, Kate was still enraptured with the house. She was wandering around, touching the wallpaper, the books in the downstairs library, the carefully-crafted wooden furniture. She even took off her shoes so she could feel the plush carpet under her toes.

She was near the back door when she heard a gentle tap. She opened it, carefully. A woman stood there, strikingly beautiful, dressed in red with dark hair and eyes. She stared at Kate, bemused.

"Uh - hello," she said, in heavily-accented english. "Is - is Angelo home?"

Kate stared back at her. "Not - really," she said. "He's dead."

The woman gasped. "No!" She clutched a hand to her chest. "What happened?"

Kate frowned. "Well - this is awkward," she said. "Did you ever hear him or his brother talk about the Saints? The gang?"

The woman's dark eyes were huge. "Yes," she said.

Kate stared at her. "Well," she said, slowly. "That would be - us."

The woman said nothing, just continuing to stare in confusion.

"And," continued Kate, "we killed him. Um, sorry. I guess."

"The fuck are you talking to?" asked Dex, as he moved to stand next to her.

"I have no idea what's happening," replied Kate.

"Neither do I!" protested the woman.

"Oh," said Dex. "I think this is the girl Orejuela was talking about."

Her eyes lit up. "Manuel!" she said. "Do you know where he is?"

"You could try the local strip club," suggested Dex. Kate fought to hide a smirk.

"Could - could I come in for a moment?" the woman asked. "To pick up - some personal things."

"What things?" asked Dex suspiciously.

The woman blushed. "Just my shoes."

Kate narrowed her eyes. "What size are you?" she asked.

"Six."

"Ugh," said Kate. "Fine. I can't fit them. I'm going to follow you around to make sure you don't try anything, though."

The woman smiled.


	9. 100K

The cold stone echoed under Kate's feet as she walked into the church. Her steps were slow and measured, as she stepped over broken pews and chunks of fallen marble from the roof overhead. Her eyes were fixed on the cross on the wall of the church ahead. She walked down what had been the aisle of the church.

Julius was standing on the steps to the altar, head and shoulders above the others.

"Good," he said. "You're here."

The others turned to look. Johnny, Dex, Troy. Recruits were gathered on either side. Their faces were sombre.

"What's this about?" she asked.

"This is about Lin," said Johnny, his voice almost a growl. She froze, again feeling cold water lapping at her arms, trying to pull her down into the depths; the rope around her wrists.

"You're the one who's been to the Rollerz bosses' house the most," said Dex, breaking through her thoughts. "You know the area. I told Julius you'd be able to help us plan something."

"I want to see what your idea of a plan looks like, playa," said Julius, looking at her contemplatively.

All eyes in the room were on her. She licked her lips, nervously. "Alright," she said, walking up to the front of the room. A map was spread out on the table in front of Julius.

"Alright," she said again. "So, the house is right up the top of Misty Lane." She picked up a marker and drew a circle around the property. "Thing about this place," she said, "is that there's a lot of ways out. There's the road that runs right behind them, and their driveway leads right into the suburbs - it's going to be hard to block all of their escape routes." She lifted her head, looking for any reaction.

Julius nodded. "What do you think we should do?" he asked.

She looked around at the sea of purple. All eyes were on her, watching her curiously. Dex nodded at her encouragingly.

"Attack from behind," she said. "They'll see us coming so this needs to be done fast. Block the garage so it'll be harder for them to drive away. The balcony's at the back, that needs to be covered, and then we shoot everyone that comes out the front. The side roads need to be blocked off too." She looked around at the others, anxiously waiting for the response.

Julius rubbed his hand over his chin. "Not bad, playa" he said. "That's gonna take a lot of people, though. Not sure if we can pull all that together."

"We can cut that down," said Dex, leaning over the table. "Block the garage with something big. If we take a big enough truck we can load it up with Saints. Sniper on the hill covering the balcony and the front, then a couple guys out the front for good measure."

"Where do we get the truck from?" asked Troy.

"We could jack a car carrier from Foreign Power?" Kate suggested. "That's in the neighborhood, so they won't have time to react."

"Nah, man, they'll see us coming," said Dex. "We can't hide Saints in it."

She felt her face turning red. "Oh," she said. "Yes."

"Docks is probably the best place to start looking," Dex continued. "And I wanna put you on the McManus. You're a good shot."

Troy was looking at her, a faint frown on his face. He looked away when she met his eyes.

"Who do you want on your team, playa?" asked Julius.

She cast her eyes around the room, and pressed her lips together. "Dex," she said, at last. "Johnny."

"Hell fuckin' yeah." Johnny's lips curved into a grin. "Let's get this shit done."

"Come on." Dex punched her arm lightly. "We'll go pick up a truck. When we get back, it's all on."

She followed him out of the church.

"What was that even about?" she asked, as she settled into the passenger seat of Dex's car.

Dex grinned as he pulled out into the street. "He's testing you, man. It's a good thing, don't worry about it."

"Testing?"

"Yeah," said Dex. "You know, seeing what you're capable of. Seeing what you can do. You're not really a baby gangster any more."

"Huh," said Kate, still confused. "So - did I do okay?"

"Well, I don't know what Julius is thinking," said Dex, checking the rear view mirror. "But I think you did pretty well. You just need to work with what you got, rather than trying to cover everything at once. Limited resources, you know."

"I like thinking big," she said, with a smile. "What can I say?"

"There'll be plenty of time for that later," he said, pulling up at the docks. Kate could smell salt and gasoline on the air. She slid her sunglasses down over her eyes.

Rusting container ships lined the wharf as they began to walk down towards the vast warehouses.

"They've got like a three-door garage," murmured Kate to Dex. "We're gonna need a big one."

"Shit," said Dex, "That makes things harder. How big?"

Kate wrinkled her nose. "Maybe like a Peterliner with a shipping container on the back," she said. "And I feel like we should set it on fire after we park it to stop any of them driving it away."

Dex shrugged. "Sounds legit," he said. "There should be some storage trucks in the warehouses up here."

The sun was warm on her skin, sparkling off the water. Kate watched the people around them; dock workers carrying crates, men in hard hats standing around in a group, women carefully flipping through pages of notebooks.

This was her city. Her city. Bright and colourful and beautiful, teeming with life. She smiled.

Dex elbowed her, startling her. "Hey," he whispered. "Over there. Think that one will do?"

The cab of truck he nodded towards was a shiny, bright blue, with a white container on the back with 'Pussy Liqueurs' printed on the side. She nodded. "Let's do it," she whispered back.

They walked casually towards the empty truck, before breaking into a run as they got closer. They hoisted themselves into the truck. Dexter reached under the dashboard.

"Hey!" A man in jeans and a tshirt with a logo on the front began to run towards the truck.

Kate leaned out the window, gun pointed at him. "Take a long lunchbreak, motherfucker," she said, as the truck's engine sputtered to life. The man froze. She waved at him as Dex threw the truck into reverse and began to slowly back out of the carpark, beeping as it went.

* * *

They loaded up the truck with Saints. Kate watched them closely, a slight frown on her face.

"Sup?" asked Dex, standing next to her. "You nervous?"

"Yeah," she admitted, pressing her lips together tightly, eyes still on the truck. "What happens if I fuck this up?"

Dex shrugged. "We try again?"

Kate turned her head to look at him. "That - actually makes me feel better," she said. "Thanks."

He grinned. "You're gonna be fine," he said.

"Let's save the congratulations until after this is over, okay?" she said, but she was smiling.

They went over the plan one last time before leaving.

"Right," said Katie, leaning over the map. "Dex, you're driving. We take the truck right along this straight road until you get to the end. I get out and head up the hill. You cut across the grass on the corner, and pull up behind the house. Everyone gets out and heads in through the back door."

She turned to Johnny. "Okay, you are going to be waiting at the bottom of the cul-de-sac. Take a car and a couple of guys with you. When you see the truck, bust in the front and try not to shoot anyone in purple. Sound good?"

"Think I can manage that," said Johnny.

"Well," she said, looking up at the Saints gathered before her. "Let's go then."

Her stomach was in knots as they pulled onto the motorway. She sat hunched over, staring desperately ahead. The barrel of the McManus was resting between her feet.

"Shit," said Dex. "You're not gonna throw up, are you?"

"No," said Kate, miserably. "Shut up."

"You need to calm down, man," he said. "Back yourself."

Kate looked into the rear vision mirror at the container attached to the cab, picturing the people inside, swaying as the truck turned. "Okay," she said. "Okay, I'm good."

Dex pulled over at the side of the road. "This is your stop."

She looked at him for a moment, then picked up her rifle and jumped out of the truck.

"Good luck," she said.

"Same to you," replied Dex.

She watched the truck drive away, then picked up the McManus and started to climb. The cliffside was rough and crumbly under her fingers, and she was making slower progress than she'd been expecting. She turned back to look at the truck. It was slowing down, ready to turn onto the mansion's lawn.

She swore, and grabbed hold of a rock to pull herself up by. It held, just, and she reached for another. After she'd pulled herself up again, she looked through the scope of her rifle. Still too low. Trees were blocking her view.

The sound of a gunshot echoed through the quiet streets. It was answered by a burst of gunfire.

Her eyes widened, and she scrabbled for the rocks above, not caring how much dirt she pulled down on herself. She pushed against the stone below with her foot to lift her to the next, and then reached for the one above.

She heard a deafening boom, and turned just in time to see a burst of flame rise over the trees. She stared at it for a moment, then pulled herself up once more.

She lifted the McManus in her arms, and looked through the scope. Finally, she had a clear view of the balcony and most of the front yard. She listened to the gunfire, watched the Saints swarm around the building. The truck was burning brightly, thick black smoke rising into the sky. For once, she wasn't a part of the chaos.

She could see Johnny at the steps leading up to the house, shotgun kicking as he fired. Dex was inside, and all of the other Saints had followed him in, trusting the burning truck to keep people away.

But then she saw a flicker of movement on the balcony. A shiver ran down her spine. Just as she'd predicted, the house's owners were looking for some way to escape. Dex's words echoed in her mind. Back yourself.

The figure was hesitating, looking down at the burning vehicle below. Kate increased the zoom on the scope. It was the old guy. Sharp. Her teeth bared in an unconscious snarl as she watched him, remembering the way he'd shot her. His businesslike manner.

He looked down at the ground, one foot on the balcony railing. He leaned forward, double-checking that there were no Saints beneath.

Kate hesitated, for a moment. He'd never know he was facing the moment of his death, waiting for the his heart to stop beating; listening to the rattle of his lungs. It would be a clean death. He wouldn't even hear the bullet. Lin deserved more.

Sharp bent his legs slowly, getting ready to jump.

Kate smiled, sadly, and pulled the trigger. Sharp was dead before he hit the ground.


	10. Make Up Your Mind

The room was spinning, a blur of purple and grey and gold. Kate was sitting in the back room of the church, perched on the desk in front of rows of thick, flickering candles. Rich purple curtains hung on either side. She had a bottle of wine in one hand, her fingers wrapped tightly around the neck. The room was crowded, packed full of Saints.

"We've fucking done it," she heard someone say. "What do we do now?"

She frowned. "That's all of the gangs," she said. "What _are_ we meant to do now?"

"Not quite all of the gangs," said Dex. "Still the cops. Biggest gang of all."

"Seriously?" asked Troy. "You're going after the cops?"

Kate turned to look at Dex. He was staring at Troy like he was challenging him, waiting to see what he was going to say next. "Why the fuck not?" he asked.

"You know what?" she said. "We should get an inside guy in the cops. They could tell us what the fuck they're up to."

Dex laughed loudly. "Yes!" he exclaimed. "That's a fuckin' great idea." He turned to Troy and leaned towards him slightly. "Don't you think so, Troy?"

Troy looked back at him levelly. "Yeah," he said, with a shrug. "Whatever."

"Get someone high up enough and they can just feed every little thing back to us," Dex continued. "Wouldn't that be so fuckin' useful?"

Troy held up his hands. "Why you askin' me, man, I don't know."

Dex leaned a little closer, aggressively. "You don't have any special insights?" he snarled. "No ideas as to who it should be? What about _you_ , Troy? Why don't you do it?"

Kate was staring, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. "Dex," she hissed. "The fuck are you doing?"

Dex took a quick glance at her, then stepped away from Troy. "Nothing," he said. "Nothing."

She grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and pulled him closer toward her. "Jesus," she said. "You need to chill out. We won. Remember?"

He stared at her for a moment, his eyes dark and angry, then slowly smiled, the anger melting away. "Yeah, we did," he admitted. He reached down and put his hands on her hips. "We should be celebrating," he said. She bit her lip to hide a smile.

A disturbance in the crowd by the door caught her attention.

"Katie!" It was Gat. He elbowed his way through the crowd, knocking people over as he made his way towards her. At last he emerged from the throng, stumbling into Dex and pushing him out of the way.

"Katie," he said again, slurring slightly. "Look. We've been wondering for a while."

She tried to focus on him. "Wondering what?" she asked.

"Do you fuck men?"

" _Johnny!_ " Aisha's voice was piercing as it cut through the noise. "What in the hell-"

"Yo, what the fuck," said Dex, stepping in towards him threateningly.

"Are you fucking serious?" asked Kate.

Johnny shrugged off the chorus of criticism lazily. "Just sayin'. Never seen you with a guy. Or anyone, come to think of it. Maybe you don't fuck at all."

She narrowed her eyes. "Listen," she said. "Who, why, when, and how I fuck is none of your business, okay? Don't fucking ask, it's offensive."

"I am _so_ sorry," said Aisha, trying to pull Johnny away.

"How's that offensive?" asked Johnny, resisting Aisha's attempts. "I'm just asking."

Kate glared. "Well let's fucking see," she said. "So, do you fuck men?"

She heard Aisha swear quietly in the stillness that ensued.

He took half a step back, as if she'd hit him. "Do I fucking what?" he asked, baring his teeth.

"Whoa!" Dex stepped in between them, facing Johnny, creating a barrier. "Get her outta here!"

Troy took hold of her elbow firmly. "Time to leave," he said, shepherding her towards the nearest exit.

"But-" she began.

"No but's," said Troy. "You've had enough and you need to go home."

She grasped his arm for balance as they emerged into the cool night air and descended the stone steps down to the road. The patchy cloud overhead reflected the lights from the city below, the Brown Baggers store down the street a blaze of neon. There were people dotting the pavement close by - mostly Saints - drinking and yelling, the sound echoing in the streets.

"I don't know if anyone ever told you this," said Troy, as they set off up the road. "But pissing off Johnny when he's drunk isn't the best idea. Worse than pissing him off sober."

"Why should I care about pissing him off?" Kate asked, a little sulkily. "He doesn't care about pissing _me_ off."

Troy turned to look at her. "It's like your self-preservation instincts go right out the window when you've been drinking," he said. "I'm going to have to make sure you don't jump out into traffic."

Kate took a look back at the church. Light shone through cracks in the boarded-up windows onto the street. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"Home," he said.

"My home?"

"Yep."

She frowned. "Are we both going to my home?"

"Uh." Troy took a sidelong glance at her. "We're going to your home, where I drop you off and then I leave."

"Are you gonna put me to bed?" she asked.

His step missed a beat. "Jesus," he said, under his breath.

Kate shrugged, not waiting for an answer. "Which house are we going to?"

"Which one do you think?" he said, after a brief pause. "How about the one that's a five minute walk away?."

"I wanna go to my good house, though," she complained. "The one with the pool."

Troy laughed quietly. "Just as well you're not going anywhere with a pool," he said. "Anyway, it's too far away."

"Can't you drive me?" she asked. "It doesn't - it doesn't take too long."

"I am nowhere near okay to drive right now," he said, navigating her around a corner.

"You serious?" she asked. "You just seem normal."

"Got a pretty high tolerance," he said, with a hint of bitterness.

She turned to look up at him. "Are you a little bit fucked up?" she asked.

He met her gaze cautiously. "Guess you could say that," he admitted.

Kate shrugged. "Who isn't?"

Her apartment windows were dark. Kate hadn't been back to this apartment in a few days, and it was showing. A jagged black tag was scrawled across her garage door. "Assholes," she said, rubbing at the paint with an experimental finger.

Her key turned in the lock. She flicked on the lightswitch, and then instantly regretted it. Unwashed plates were piled in the sink, her underwear was lying in a pile next to her bed. The one-room apartment was small, barely fitting in room for a bed and television. She turned back to look at Troy.

He paused outside her doorway. "Look-" he said. "Kate. Maybe you should lay low for a while."

Her eyes widened. "Because of that Johnny thing?"

He laughed. "No," he said. "Trust me, he's probably over that already. It's hard for him to stay angry for long. Just explodes then goes back to normal."

"Well why did you take me home then?" she asked.

"Because," he said. "You are way too fuckin' wasted right now and you need to sleep it off."

She laughed, clutching the doorway in order to stay upright. "You're sweet," she said. "You're really sweet. Why are you even in a gang?"

He stared at her for a moment, then sighed. "Well - this is what I was talking about. I'm gonna need to lay low for a while. You should - think about it too. Maybe head out of town."

"I am-" she took a step forward- "fucking bulletproof right now," she said. "Nothing in this city can stop me."

He caught hold of her arms as she wobbled unsteadily. "Don't be too sure about that, kid," he said.

She wet her lips with her tongue. "Why don't you come in?" she asked, tilting her head back at the open apartment door.

He froze. "Katie," he began, letting go of her arms and taking a step back. "That's not a good idea. You're really drunk."

"I'm not _that_ drunk."

"Yeah you are," he said. "You need to get some rest. I - I'm gonna head home."

She shrugged a shoulder. "See you round," she said.

"Yeah," he said back, uncomfortably. "I hope so."


	11. Of All The Gin Joints In All The World

It was dark. Her arms were touching something cold. She groaned, and lifted up her head. Blinking blearily, all she could see was white. There was a pool of water in front of her face.

She groaned, and pushed herself back. She was hugging the goddamn toilet. She almost retched again, just looking at it.

Someone was pounding on her front door. That must have woken her up. She pushed herself to her feet, and stumbled to the door. She held onto the walls to keep her balance,her feet scuffing on the worn carpet. Her head was pounding, and each step she took seemed to make her feel more like throwing up.

She cracked the door open, and stumbled back when it was pushed in towards her forcefully. It was only then that realised that all she was wearing was an old singlet and a pair of black panties that were just a little too big for her. Despite this, she couldn't really bring herself to care.

"Wow," said Johnny." You okay? You look like shit."

She leaned against the wall. "I wanna die," she slurred. "Just wanna die. Are we gonna have to have a fight? Because I might spew on you."

Johnny shrugged. "Nah," he said, lightly. "Guess it was kind of an offensive question."

Dex took a step forward. She hadn't noticed him standing there. "Look, Kate, something's-" He broke off. "Shit, you really don't look good."

"Eat a dick," she moaned. "Are you assholes here for a reason or can I go back to sleeping into the toilet?"

"Yeah, we're here for a reason," said Johnny. "Cops picked up Julius."

"Fucking serious?" she asked, blinking into the light. "Picked up for what?"

"We don't know," said Dex. "He was calling me about you. He had to hang up. Nothing since."

"Me?" she repeated. "What'd he say about me?"

"He said that he trusts you. And that we're gonna need you."

"Need me to do what?" she asked.

Dex looked away, frustrated. "We don't fuckin' know," he said. "We don't know where he is."

"We need to show those fucks that we're not just gonna take this shit," said Johnny.

"And how you wanna do that?" asked Dex, flatly.

"Well, where they gonna be keeping him?" asked Johnny. "Police station? Let's go bust him out."

"We don't know if he's there," said Dex, irritably. "He's probably not. Way too obvious."

"Well let's fuck something up, then. Something big."

"We are not blowing up City Hall," said Dex. "Seriously. I'm shutting that down right now."

"God fucking damn it, " said Johnny. "The fuck do we do then? Wait them out?"

"I doubt they'll leave us hanging for long," said Dex grimly.

"This is fucking bullshit," said Johnny.

"Can you guys excuse me for a minute?" asked Kate. "I am actually going to have to go throw up."

She retreated into the bathroom. She left the door open and collapsed on the cold linoleum.

She heard Johnny's voice through the thin wall, from the front door. "Troy isn't here, is he?"

She groaned. "No," she called. "Why the fuck would he be here?"

"We can't get hold of him."

"I don't care," she moaned.

"Hey."

She looked up to see Dex in the doorway.

"What?" she mumbled.

"Come to the church. We need to think about this some more."

"But it's bright outside," she complained. "And loud. And it smells bad."

"Honestly," said Dex. "It doesn't smell much worse out there than it does in here."

She closed her eyes for a moment. "Fair point."

"We'll smoke you out," he continued. "It'll make you feel better."

"I don't feel like that would really be conducive to making good plans," she said.

He shrugged. "Probably stop you throwing up, though."

"That is," she said, "actually really nice of you. Let me, um. Find some clothes or something."

"Yeah, no problem," he said. "See you there."

* * *

The sun was uncomfortably warm on her clammy skin as she walked to the church. She was wearing the darkest pair of sunglasses she could find, and a baseball cap pulled down low over her eyes.

"You in disguise or something?" asked Johnny as she stumbled into the church, one hand on the wall for support.

She couldn't think of a comeback, so she ignored it. "Any news?" she asked.

"Not yet," said Dex, passing her a tightly rolled joint. "You go easy on that now, too much'll make you feel worse."

She took it gratefully and sat down on one of the two unbroken pews left in the church. She closed her eyes as the smoke filled her lungs.

"Okay," she said, smoke escaping through her mouth. "So. What were we going to talk about?"

Dex sat down next to her. Johnny remained standing in front of both of them.

"What we do when we get a call," said Dex. "What they want. Who they're representing."

"What do they want him for?" asked Johnny. "I mean, they're not going to ask for a fucking ransom."

Dex frowned. "Yeah," he said. "That's right. Seems more like they'll want something else from us. Maybe they want us to do something."

"I'm not doing bitch work for the cops," said Johnny. "No fuckin' way."

"They could want our connections," offered Kate. She took another drag on the joint and then passed it back to Dex. "Colombians gotta be valuable."

"You think they'd kidnap Julius to ask for a fuckin' introduction?" asked Johnny. "Seems like a lot of effort to go to."

"Can we habias corpus them?" asked Kate.

"What?" asked Johnny.

Dex had become very still, the joint in his hand turning into ash. He leaned forward, one eyebrow raised. "We - could," he said. "Though I think they realize they're holding him illegally so won't acknowledge it." He paused, frowning. "And they'd probably take it as us trying to fuck with them. Could end badly."

"What are you even talking about?" asked Johnny.

"Oh," said Kate. "It means like, 'show us the body'."

"I'm not liking where this is going," Johnny replied.

"Nah, it just means they have to justify holding him," said Dex. "No actual body involved. Hopefully."

"You think we should call a lawyer?" asked Kate. "I know a couple."

"Like Legal Lee?" said Dex. "Let's hold off for now. Anyway, you go to college? Didn't know that."

"Uh, for like a semester," said Kate. "Not enough to count."

"Still," said Dex. "You-"

They fell into silence as the tinny ringtone of Kate's mobile phone went off. She pulled it out of her pocket and stared at it for a moment.

"Answer it," hissed Dex.

She looked at him uncertainly, then tapped the answer button.

"Hello?" she said.

"Good afternoon," she heard.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Straight to the point. I like that."

She shared a wary glance with Dex and Johnny.

"This is Chief Monroe. Your friend is safe - for now."

"You still haven't said what you want," she said.

"Clever girl." His voice was dripping with condescension. "Let me explain: I need Marshall Winslow out of the way. You are to park his bus on the northbound train tracks in thirty minutes. Do you understand?"

"Winslow?" asked Kate. "I was going to vote for that guy."

"You were going to vote?" asked Johnny.

"I'd remember to tell him to use that in his next campaign advertisement," said Monroe. "'Mayor Winslow: Number one choice of Stilwater gang members'. Except there's not going to be a next campaign advertisement. I'm sure you understand."

"But-" Kate began.

"You're wasting time," he replied. "If you fail in this task - well, you'll find your Julius' body tomorrow. Don't be late. You won't have a second chance." The line went dead.

Kate looked at the others, her eyes wide. "Seriously?" she asked.

"We don't have a fuckin' choice," said Johnny.

"This just feels bad," she said.

Dex closed his eyes. "Johnny's right," he said, quietly. "We got a choice, Julius or Winslow."

"And we don't even fucking know this Winslow guy," added Johnny.

"God damn it," said Kate, pressing a hand to her eyes. "I don't want in. This is fucked up."

"We need you as a ride-along," said Dex. "You can't just decide when you want to be in the Saints and when you don't. You have to come."

She blinked. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah. Okay."

She followed the others out to the car, and sat quietly in the back as they started to drive, lulled by the purr of the motor - and the weed, probably - into a half-sleep.

She was startled when Johnny, sitting in the front passenger seat, leaned forwards. "There," he said.

The bus was guarded closely by two FBI vehicles, one front and one behind.

Dex threw the car into a spin, coming to a halt in front of the first FBI van. The three of them jumped out of the car, weaving past the confused law enforcement officers, and jumped onto the bus.

"What are you doing here?"

Kate turned her head towards the voice. The mayor, Marshall Winslow, was sitting next to a staffer, looking up at her with alarm. She froze.

"We're taking you on a scenic tour," said Johnny, aiming his shotgun at the mayor.

"You're from Saints Row?" Winslow asked, quietly. "So was I. Born and raised."

Kate couldn't look, and turned around to watch Dex's driving. He was navigating the bus around a barricade of police cars. Sirens filled her ears.

"You can just walk away," the mayor continued. "You don't have to do this. This isn't the way forward."

Kate pressed a hand to her lips, her back stiff as she refused to look back. Her stomach felt like it was in one big knot.

"What's really going on here?" asked Winslow.

The bus bumped gently as the tyres rolled over the train tracks.

"Well, this is our stop," said Johnny. "Thanks for the ride."

Dex grabbed her arm as he leapt out of the driver's seat, dragging her out of the bus. She stumbled down the steps after him. The blare of the train's horn was almost deafening as it closed in, but the noise was nothing compared to the crashing shriek of twisting metal and breaking glass as the train hit the bus.

She stood, eyes closed, by the side of the road. Dex hadn't let go of her arm. "Come on," he said. "Let's get out of here."

She followed without a word.


	12. Too Long Awake

Kate sat with her feet in the pool, her hands resting on the warm tiles at her sides. The weather was getting cooler now, this wouldn't be possible for much longer. The sound of the waves behind her drowned out most of the noise from the city, although being so close to the airport it was impossible to forget where she was entirely.

Her phone lay just behind her, buzzing gently as it rang, rattling on the concrete. It eventually went silent. She looked back at it, uneasily. Eight missed calls. Six from Dex, one from Johnny, and one from 'unknown' which was probably the one she felt most uncomfortable about. She leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, burying her face in her hands.

She didn't look up when she heard footsteps on the concrete patio.

"Katie?"

It was Dex's voice. She didn't look up.

"I see you haven't lost your phone." His voice was closer. And slightly irritated. There was a pause. "Uh - are you okay?"

She opened her eyes and stared at the pool through the cracks in her fingers. "Dex-" she said. "What the fuck are we doing?"

There was a pause. "You want out?" he asked. "I'm not going to judge you if you do. You might have some trouble with the others, though."

"N-no," she said. "I don't know."

He sighed and sat down next to her. He began to unlace his shoes. "Katie. This is fucked."

She nodded her agreement.

"Are you gonna have a breakdown on me?"

Her shoulders slumped. She looked up. "Dex," she said, her voice low. "I never killed a man that didn't deserve it. Uh. At least on purpose."

He dipped his feet into the water and turned to look at her.

"Yeah," he said, narrowing his eyes. "I don't know if that was the right thing to do. Could have some repercussions for us."

"What are we even doing this for?" she asked. "How can-"

He dropped his head, staring into the water. "It doesn't matter now," he said. "We need Julius back, and then-"

"What if they don't give him back?" she continued. "We can't just do what they want us to do forever!"

"Katie." Dex caught hold of her arm. "Calm down. That's why I'm here."

She finally turned to look up at him, her eyes wide and startled. "Really?" she asked in a small voice.

He smiled. "Yeah, really." He brushed a curl of hair out of her eyes.

She blinked at him, startled by the gesture.

"Come back to the church," he said. "I've got an idea."

She lifted her feet out of the water and back onto the sun-warmed tiles. "Okay," she said, standing up. "Let's go."

* * *

"Fuck took you so long?" Johnny asked irritably, as Kate and Dex walked into the church. "You got anything or not?"

Dex rubbed his forehead wearily. "Look. We're all sick of this shit. Let's show Monroe he can't fuck with us."

Kate frowned. "What if he takes it out on Julius?" she asked.

"He won't have a chance to," Dex said, coldly.

"Okay," said Johnny, pushing himself away from the broken pew he'd been sitting on. "Enough talking about how fucking great the plan's going to be and tell us what the plan is. I'm sick of this bullshit."

"Alright, alright." Dex held up his hands. "the mayor's funeral's today. There's gonna be an official procession and everything."

Johnny tilted his head to the side, smiling faintly. "Yeah?" he said, encouragingly.

"And the chief of police is going to have to put in an official appearance."

"I'm feeling good about where this is going," said Johnny. "Don't disappoint me."

Dex folded his arms. "We got no chance of getting into the police station. We don't know where Monroe lives. What we do know is where he's going to be at what time."

Kate's eyes widened, an incredulous smile spreading over her face. "Are you fucking serious?" she asked.

"Mm-hmm," he confirmed. "We're taking him out. This afternoon."

"You got some fucking balls," said Johnny, grinning. "Let's get ready for the party."

Two rocket launchers. One McManus. A .44 Shepherd and a handful of grenades.

The guns lay spread out on the altar in front of them. Johnny ran his hands reverently along the dull metal barrel of the rocket launcher.

"It's been too long since I've held you," he said to it as he picked it up.

Dex raised an eyebrow at Kate. She picked up the McManus, and then tucked the Shepherd into the back of her shorts.

"You sure?" asked Johnny. "You're going to be missing out on most of the fun."

"We're not planning on blowing up the whole procession," said Dex. "Only as much of it as we need to. I'm pretty sure we can do this surgical strike style if things go well."

"Then let's hope they don't," said Johnny, with a grin.

Kate helped Dex load the rest of the weapons into the trunk of his car. Johnny honked the horn twice as he sped past them.

Dex gave a tense sigh. "Hope this fuckin' works," he said.

"Yeah." Kate grinned at him. "Me too."

He returned her smile.

Kate drummed her fingers on the passenger-side armrest as he drove. "What happens if we don't get Julius back?" she asked. "What if it's just us three from now on?"

"Then," said Dex. "We pick out some promising bangers to promote. We've just fought a war, Katie. Casualties on both sides, but there's no one left who's able to challenge us before we get our shit back together."

"You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?" she said.

"I think about a lot of things a lot." Dex kept his eyes focused on the road.

"I've noticed." She smiled sidelong at him, then looked up to the city skyline. "I wonder what happened to Troy."

Dex snorted. "Yeah," he said. "Me too."

"He told me to get out of town," she said thoughtfully.

"Did he really," Dex said bitterly. She saw him roll his eyes. "Why would he let you in on that?"

She shrugged.

"Anything ever happen between you two?" he asked.

She laughed humourlessly. "Uh - no," she said. "Do you think he knew something big was going to go down out here?"

Dex sighed irritably. "How the fuck would I know?"

"Jesus," she said. "Okay. Sorry."

"It doesn't-" He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. You know how sometimes you don't know who you can trust?"

"Yeah?" she said, curiously.

But he never continued his thought. Instead, he pulled over next to the mall. The complex was large and open, a two-storied terracotta terrace with rows of shops lining the walkways. A wide glass roof arched over the centre, banners promoting Alderman Hughes for election hanging from the classical music played from the speakers.

"We going shopping?" she asked.

He had the grace to force a smile. "No," he said. "We've got everything we need right here in the trunk."

They earned a few curious glances from pedestrians as they carried the contents of their armoury up to the second level. "Hell yeah!" yelled one of them. "Do some damage!"

Katie stopped, holding the McManus in both hands, and frowned at him. "PSA!" she yelled, drawing the attention of the people walking around her. "You might want to leave the area. Don't call the cops or I'll have you shot."

The small crowd actually cheered.

"Subtle," said Dex.

"That ship sailed a long time ago," she said. "Why are people applauding?"

Dex smiled, a little more genuinely than before. "You're a hero," he said. "Well, maybe more of an anti-hero. You have fans."

She frowned at him. "That's fucked up," she said, before settling down on the corner of the building, overlooking the tree-lined street below. She looked through the scope, testing the view, then back up at Dex.

"Okay," he said. "Johnny's up there." He pointed to a nearby rooftop. Johnny waved. "Now, this isn't going to be easy. He'll be sitting in the back of the cop car, and you're only going to get one shot at this. I think you should hit him as he drives right past, but if you've got an earlier shot, take it."

"I'm good," she said. "Think I might even enjoy this."

Dex crouched next to her. "Okay, they're coming. Wait for the cop car. Surgical strike, remember - aw, shit."

Kate looked through the scope of the McManus. A row of police cars were driving down the street towards them, lights flashing.

"Fuck," said Dex. "Do you think you can still-"

The rest of his sentence was drowned out as an explosion shook the street beneath them. Kate looked up to see Johnny aiming his rocket launcher at another car.

"Fuck," said Dex, again. "Okay, fuck it. We're taking out all these cop cars."

He lifted the other rocket launcher and fired. The sound was deafening, the street on fire. Kate looked up as she heard a police helicopter overhead. She lifted the rifle and fired a precise shot into the cockpit. The pilot slumped forward over the controls as the helicopter plunged towards the ground.

"Okay," said Dex. "We got him. Calling it now. Let's get the fuck out of here or we're going to be swarmed."

They ran for the car.


	13. God Is Going To Get Sick Of Me

It felt like it was over. They'd sent a message - and a hell of a message at that - to whoever Monroe was working for. The Saints weren't to be fucked with.

She walked the streets in a half-daze, barely able to believe what they'd done. People kept coming up to her. The latest one to do it was a black man in his 40s, wearing a suit.

"City's yours now," he said. "You can do what you want. Don't fuck it up."

She stopped. "What?" she said. "Do I actually know you?"

"No ma'am," he replied. "But everyone knows you."

She looked around. People were watching her, some with fear and others with admiration.

"Fucking Christ," she muttered, and kept walking, her head down. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her list of contacts. Her thumb hovered over Troy's name. She hit the call button.

The phone beeped shrilly in her ear, and she pulled the phone away from her head, wincing.

"We're sorry," a tinny voice on the other end of the line said. "You have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service."

"Are you fucking serious?" she said, out loud. "Where the fuck did you go?"

She scrolled back up through her contacts, and called Johnny. The phone didn't even ring.

"Hey, this is Johnny. I'm probably f-"

She hung up, closing her eyes for a moment in frustration. She looked back down at her phone. There was only Dex left. The Saints' entire leadership was down to her and two others.

She called him. The phone rang, which was encouraging at first, but as the tone kept ringing, she sighed. At last, it stopped.

"This is Dex. Leave a message."

"H-hey," she said. "Just trying to get hold of you. Or anyone. Call me back? Uh, this is Kate."

She groaned. "What in the fuck am I even doing?" she asked, out loud. She stepped out into the road, forcing a car to jam on its brakes. She walked around to the driver's side window and tapped on the glass with her gun. "Excuse me," she said. "I'm going to need this car."

The driver hopped out obligingly. "Can't believe I just got jacked by a fuckin' Saints lieutenant!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Kate paused, her hand on the gear stick, to toss him an incredulous look. "Thanks for the help?" she said, and then drove off.

She didn't know where she was going, or pay much attention to the road, she just kept driving. The gentle curve and camber of the motorway was almost soothing.

"Okay," she breathed. "Okay. This is going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine."

Her phone started ringing.

"Shit," she hissed, wriggling to extract the phone from the back pocket of her denim shorts. She twisted in her seat, only one hand on the wheel. There was a crash as her car ran into the back of the car in front. The impact threw Kate forwards before she was caught by her seatbelt.

She leant down to retrieve her phone, which had fallen into the driver's side footwell. Unknown number. She frowned at it, then answered.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hello young lady." The voice was familiar. "This is Alderman Richard Hughes, I don't believe we've spoken before."

"Um," she said. "No. What do you want?"

The Alderman sighed. "You wanted my attention, didn't you? I assume that's what the funeral-day massacre was about."

She didn't reply, throwing the car into reverse and pulling back out into the traffic.

"Let's - sit down and discuss this," he continued. "I've no desire to see this killing continue. I'm having something of a soiree tonight. I'll bring Julius, and we can discuss things, rationally, like functioning members of society."

"Right," she said, in her head running through the list of available people she could take with her. Johnny, hell-fucking-no; Dex, probably. If she could get hold of him. "Okay. Where and when?"

"Oh, show up any time," the Alderman said, his voice carefully casual. "We'll be there all night. If you come before eight, though, there'll be less people around." He laughed. "Not that I'm trying to keep you a secret. We're on a boat down at the marina. Not the docks, mind you, the marina."

"I got it the first time," she said, tersely. "Fine. See you there."

"I'm looking forward to it."

She hung up, swung a U-turn, and drove the wrong way down an entrance ramp. She pulled into the carpark of a nearby Freckle Bitch's. She dialled Dex again, and sighed when the call went through to voicemail again.

"Dex," she said. "Fuck. I need to talk to you. It's about Julius. Call me back."

She tossed the phone onto the passenger's seat irritably and slumped back in her seat. The fabric of the car seat was rough and scratchy against her legs. She looked down. A fundraiser. Her usual outfit, denim shorts and a purple tank top, probably wasn't going to cut it. She wondered if she could get back into Impressions again.

* * *

The sun was setting. Kate was sitting in her own car, this time, tapping her fingers against the wheel nervously. Her phone, next to her, sat quietly. No calls. Not so much as a text. She was wearing a black blazer and tailored trousers with a purple shirt underneath, and was starting to worry that she looked ridiculous.

"Fuck it," she said, after another agonizing minute, and opened the car door. She stepped out into the cold wind, and straightened her clothes. She had an SMG tucked into the back of her trousers, and a pistol in her blazer pocket.

The ship was large, but not huge. Not large enough to have a big fundraiser on. But, if all the the other invitees were really rich - maybe it was just exclusive.

She kept her fingers wrapped around the pistol as she walked down to the ship, heels clicking on the concrete, and stepped aboard. It seemed to be deserted, and she stopped, uneasily. Just as she was about to back right off, the ship disengaged from the dock, powering out into the harbour, churning the water white in its wake. She took a hesitant step towards the space in the railing, but before she could even think about jumping, a man appeared, wearing a grey suit jacket.

"Madam," he said. "If you'll come this way."

She followed him through to the front of the ship, heart thumping in her chest. A familiar figure was standing on the deck, hands clasped behind his back.

"Well thank god for that," he said. "I wasn't sure if you were going to make it."

"Hey," she said, sliding her finger around the trigger of the pistol in her pocket.

"May I say, it is a delight to finally meet you. This wouldn't have been possible without you."

She cast a grim glance towards the rest of the ship. "I'm not sure you're going to be making a lot of money off this fundraiser, now," she said.

He laughed. "Very perceptive," he said. "I really have to say that you did a stellar job. All of that nonsense at the funeral - you completely confused everyone. Winslow's targeted assassination raised some eyebrows, but your follow-up massacre did a wonderful job of obscuring all of that."

She narrowed her eyes. "So where are we going from here?"

"My dear girl," he said. "I shall be elected Mayor, and can finally launch the Saints Row redevelopment project . You've given me an opportunity like no other. The public are willing to compromise a lot as long as their safety is assured. The place is as good as bulldozed already."

Kate watched him, levelly. "So you provoked us into an extreme response so you could justify harsh methods for carrying out your own plans. I'm going to remember that."

He leaned forward, smiling. "I don't think you understand," he said. "You're not going to remember a-"

A sudden beeping noise startled both of them.

She saw his eyes widen in fear.

And then everything was gone.


	14. Out Of Touch

Kate's limbs felt heavy and sluggish. There was something tickling - no, stuck in her nose, and another in her throat. She tried to lift her arm to her face, but something was holding her back. She made a strangled sound in the back of her throat and tried to sit up.

"Don't worry." The voice was female and soothing. She lay back.

"We'll have all this off you shortly."

She could hear someone groaning nearby.

"It's not deep," said a different voice, further away this time. "Couple of stitches. Hold still for a minute."

Kate felt a gentle tugging, and then light flooded her eyes. She tried, again, to throw up a hand to cover them, but the sound of tearing fabric made her stop. She closed her eyes tightly.

"It's okay." The soothing voice was back. "You'll get used to it. I'm just going to take these tubes out."

Kate coughed as the tubes were removed from her nose and throat.

"And get the rest of these bandages off you," the voice continued.

Kate could feel cold metal as it slid along her skin. "Whuh?" she managed.

"You've been in a bad accident," said the voice. "No one thought you were going to wake up. You're only alive because the chief of police wouldn't let anyone turn your life support off."

"Gngh," Kate replied.

"There we are." She heard footsteps moving away. "Better than I expected, too. You had a fair amount of reconstructive surgery, but you seem to have recovered exceptionally."

Kate felt a sudden coldness, and then something light fall over her.

"Stay right here." She could see the owner of the voice, now, a soft, blurry outline against the blinding light. "I'll be back soon."

"Hey." This was a different voice, next to her, male and slightly accented.

She let her head slump to her right, and opened her eyes. The world was a blur of grey and brown.

"Huh?" she said.

"Is it really you?"

She blinked, trying to clear her vision. "I - don't - know," she croaked. "Who am I?"

There was a long pause. "The leader of the Saints," he said, finally, his voice uncertain.

"N-no," she said. "That was - that was always Julius." Her eyes widened, and she struggled to push herself up onto her elbows. "Where's Julius? Is he-"

"Shh," said the voice urgently. "I don't know where Julius is. You been out a long time."

She lay back down. Trying to sit up had exhausted her. "How long?"

"Mm-" he sounded uncertain. "Five years?"

"F-five years," she repeated.

"Something like that," he said. "I've come to bust you out."

"Out of what?"

"Out of prison." He was getting irritated, but trying to hide it.

"I thought this was a hospital," said Kate. Her vision was beginning to come back. White walls, white ceiling, dividers between rows of beds.

"It's a prison hospital," he said.

She looked over at him. Hispanic, with thick dark eyebrows and large brown eyes. He was wearing a purple beanie. And he was young – really young. "How old are you? Did they send me to fucking juvie?" she asked, and immediately wished she hadn't by the way he looked away, eyes full of hurt.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Carlos," he said, quietly.

"You're too little for Carlos." She closed her eyes for a moment. "Does your mother call you Carlito?"

She opened her eyes in time to see his frown of confusion turn into a smile. "Mm-hmm."

"Okay," she said. "Well, Carlito – how the fuck are we going to get out of this place?"

"We can either sneak out through the roof – or shoot our way out the front door."

"Second option sounds easier," she said. "Although –" she took a peek under the sheet covering her. "I don't think I'm wearing any clothes."

Carlos shrugged. "Could distract the guards?"

Kate sighed. "Guess I could wrap myself in this sheet."

"Stilwater Penitentiary toga party?" he suggested. "Or you could cut two eyeholes in it and wear it over your head like a ghost. Maybe they will be too scared to shoot."

She laughed. "Alright," she said. "Let's see how this goes." She swung her legs over the side of the bed and pushed herself off. She flailed wildly as her legs refused to support her, and collapsed on the floor in a heap, the sheet landing gently on top of her.

"Uh – I don't think it's going so good," said Carlos.

The noise had attracted the doctor's attention. "Oh no," she said, hurrying over. "You mustn't get up." She bent down. She had short, curly dark hair and soft hazel eyes.

Carlos grabbed the doctor in a headlock, as Kate emerged from beneath the sheet. She looked at the doctor speculatively.

"I think I'm going to need your clothes," she said.

Carlos tied the doctor up with the sheet as Kate struggled to get into the white scrubs.

"Why the fuck do my arms and legs feel like jelly?" she snapped. "And I can't use my fucking fingers properly."

"Your time in a coma has probably resulted in some muscle atrophy," said the doctor softly. "And you may have lost some fine motor control."

Kate turned to glare at her. "This permanent?"

"You should regain both in time with a regular exercise regime," the doctor quavered. "A – a course of steroids might help."

"Got any?" Kate asked.

"There's a key in my – uh, your pocket to that cabinet over there." The doctor nodded towards the wall.

"That's very generous of you," said Kate.

The doctor offered a sickly smile.

"Say," Kate continued. "You don't happen to have any more scrubs anywhere, do you?"

When the doctor's eyes flicked towards a cupboard next to the door, Kate smiled. "You've been so helpful," she said. "I'm going to send you something once we're out. Carlito, go get all that shit."

The doctor shook her head vehemently.

"Oh, not like a bad thing," said Kate. "Not like, a bomb. Or a head. You know, something nice."

The doctor kept shaking her head.

"We'll see then," said Kate.

Carlos finished putting on the scrubs, folding his orange jumpsuit carefully and placing it on the shelf. He closed the cupboard.

"What do I need to do to get out?" Kate asked the doctor. "Is there a swipe card or a keycode or anything?"

"Card," whispered the doctor. "Trouser pocket."

"Nothing else?" Kate leaned forward a little.

"No," the doctor whimpered.

"Good." Kate tried to lift herself off the floor by holding onto the bed, but couldn't pull herself up. She turned to Carlos. "Think I'm going to need your help."

Carlos hauled her up without much effort. She was a lot taller than him. She took a hesitant step, clutching his arm for support, and then one without.

"Okay," said Kate. "Don't say anything once we're out of here, let me talk. You just point me in the right direction."

"The exit's just to the right once we're through this door."

"Got it." Kate turned back to the doctor. "What's your name?"

The doctor pressed her lips together and shook her head.

"Oh, you." Kate laughed. "I'm going to find out one day, you know."

The doctor turned visibly paler.

"Wish us luck," Kate said. "I recommend you don't scream for, say, an hour." She staggered over and pulled the cubicle curtain around, hiding the doctor from view.

"Let's go," she said to Carlos.

He opened the door for her. They were in what seemed to be the back entranceway to the prison. There were cells on one side, and large double doors to the other. Two guards were watching the prisoners in the cells.

She took a deep breath. "Just heading out for a smoke," she said, as she held the keycard against the panel on the door. "See you in five."

"Bad for your health," one of the guards said half-heartedly as Carlos pushed the door open.

Kate laughed. "Tell me about it," she said.

"How's the prisoner?" asked the other.

"Don't think she'll be getting up any time soon," replied Kate.

"Heh. Good."

The door closed behind them.

She grabbed Carlos' arm again, leaning on him heavily. The prison courtyard was dark and wet, a searchlight roaming the grounds in the pounding rain. They walked, together, straight down the middle, quickly getting soaked.

"Not bad," he said. "You're still pretty sharp. Wasn't thinking we'd get out of there without a fight."

"I don't think I'm in much of a shape for a fight," she said. "And it's not over yet. Where now?"

"We're on an island," said Carlos.

"Please tell me we're not going to have to swim."

He laughed. "Nah, should be a boat down by the docks."

"Should be?" repeated Kate. "That's – reassuring."

He shrugged. "It's there," he said, though he sounded less confident.

They began to walk, following the road as it wound down the hill. Kate let go of his arm as they passed a patrol of two guards, making sure to keep their distance.

"Romantic walk?" asked one. The other guard sniggered.

Kate stifled the flood of adrenaline and laughed uncomfortably. The patrol seemed to be satisfied, and walked onward.

"Christ," said Kate. "Okay. Going well. Going well."

"You ever meet my brother?" asked Carlos.

"What?" Kate turned her head to look at him, startled.

"I had a brother in the Saints. Said he rolled with you a couple times."

She blinked. "Last name?" she asked.

"Mendoza."

She closed her eyes. "Nothing straight away," she said. "But I think my memory might be a little bit fucked."

"You seem like you're doing pretty good so far," he said. They were coming towards the end of the road. Kate could see the lights of the city over the water. The waves were huge and rolling and the wind blowing a gale, rain blowing in their faces so hard it stung.

She was struggling to keep up with Carlos, now, as he hurried towards the dock. She was exhausted already, her heart pounding from the short walk. He pulled her into the shadows as another patrol walked past, then half-carried her down the ramp to a prisoner transport boat.

"Can you man the gun?" he asked.

She grimaced and settled down at the stern of the ship, behind a machine gun mounted at the back. "Yeah," she said.

She felt the boat rumble to life. They pulled away from the dock, the boat lurching in the rough sea. Just as they were pulling away, she heard the howl of the prison alarm.

"That wasn't an hour," Kate said, but she was smiling.

They had a decent lead. Probably wouldn't be able to get helicopters organised for another five minutes. Still, with the way the sea was, they probably wouldn't end up with much of a head start. Her fingers touched the trigger of the machine gun gently.

"So where is everyone?" she yelled back to Carlos. "Where are we going?"

"Everyone?" she could barely hear Carlos over the wind. "There is no everyone. Saints are gone, man."

"What?" she asked, wiping rain from her face. "What about Dex?"

"Who?"

"Troy?" she tried.

He didn't reply.

"Johnny?"

"Think he's in prison."

"Are you shitting me?" she yelled. "We just came from the fucking prison!"

He was silent a moment. "Do you want us to go back?"

She could see boats pulling away from the docks after them. "Fuck's sake, no!" She paused. "The church still around?"

"Not the way it used to be. After the Saints were gone Ultor bought up a lot of the Row."

"Ultor," Kate said quietly to herself. It was familiar. "Ultor dome Ultor?"

"My advice is don't go there," yelled Carlos. "Not straight away. Too different. It'll be a shock."

Kate frowned at the skyline, then turned back to the machine gun. The boats were closing in. She sighted along the barrel, and narrowed her eyes. She smiled.


	15. Karma Chameleon

Kate was standing, alone and shivering, on the sidewalk. Her clothes were soaked with rain and sea spray, and the street lights were dim in the misty darkness.

No car. No money. No guns.

Carlos had made a call from a payphone, and been picked up maybe five minutes later. He'd offered her a ride, but she hadn't felt like crashing any kind of family reunion – and the cops would be looking for people matching their descriptions. Best they weren't seen together.

No phone. No map.

She didn't know anyone. The map didn't matter that much. It didn't feel like she'd been away that long, surely she'd be able to remember where everything was.

No car.

That was a problem. Carjacking was going to be hard, with her shaky limbs and the weakness of her arms. She might be able to get someone to stop, but hauling them out of their car was another story. She could probably hotwire a car. Maybe. Her hands were still unsteady and she didn't have a penknife or something to strip and cut the wires with. But, then again, in a pinch she could use a piece of broken glass. Troy had really been the one to show her how to do this, with slow, methodical steps. She sighed. Maybe he'd really left town and ever come back.

No underwear.

Well, she couldn't take that off the doctor. It wasn't really a problem.

She began to walk, head down and shoulders hunched against the thinning rain. She'd lost so much. Not counting the five missing years , there had been the cash, the mansions, the attrazione she'd taken from the Rollerz headquarters and had painted a shimmering purple. The Colombians. She actually groaned out loud. The Colombians. They'd never even had a chance to set up regular shipments and distribution rings. Some other gang had probably swooped in and picked up where they'd left off.

She followed the waterfront, walking along the sidewalk. Well, a combination of walking and staggering, and sitting down with her feet in the gutter and her head between her knees when she felt like she might pass out.

The sidewalk dipped down into an underpass. This – this was familiar. Rebadeaux. Wasn't it? When she'd driven here in the past, she always took the underpass a little too fast, the suspension crunching a little as she hit the bottom, then all four wheels leaving the ground as she came back up on the other side. And then overhead was that strip club she'd done some driving for. That meant she was almost at the Row. She followed the road down. Bright neon lines glowed overhead, and the decorative chequerboard sidewalk was filthy, but – she recognised it. Sort of. When she came out the other side, the familiarity dropped away.

Kate kept walking, her steps getting steadier. Carlos had said she shouldn't go back to Saints Row so soon, but in a mostly-unfamiliar city it seemed like finding it might give her some of the answers she was looking for.

Mission Beach. She slowed down, and came to a halt. It was a cluster of high-rise buildings, steel and glass and concrete.

Her old house – the whole tiny U-shaped street she'd lived on – she couldn't even figure out where it had been. Back when she'd lived there, there had been a construction project going on across the road that never seemed to get anywhere. Now – if it was now this gaudy block of apartments, which was almost in the right place, then her house was now – a cosmetic surgeon's? She turned around, staring at the buildings in bewilderment. The whole neighbourhood was gone. It hadn't been a particularly good neighbourhood, if she was going to be honest – there had been drive-bys and gang battles and, if she was going to be really really honest, at least one dangerous driver – but the kids could, most of the time, play in the streets.

She completed a circuit of the block, trying to re-examine the buildings, fit them in with the images she had in her memory, as if she would be able to find her old apartment if she just looked hard enough. It was impossible. They must have flattened the entire neighbourhood; ripped up the roads and the water and sewage pipes and electricity cables and telephone wires and started from nothing.

There were closely-cropped grass verges, stark modern art sculptures, water features lit with brightly coloured fluorescent lights. It was starting to seem more and more dreamlike as each moment passed. The memory of golden autumn sunlight and auburn leaves falling from the trees seemed harder and harder to hold onto.

She turned the corner, again, and she was back where she started. She turned away, in despair. Where would she go now? She hadn't realised that so much of her identity was tied up in being a goddamn gang member.

And then she saw it. The church. It wasn't where it should be. Was it? It seemed too close to the bridge. And it was different. The tags had been cleaned off, yes, and the broken windows fixed, but – was that what it had always looked like?

She almost didn't want to see what it looked like inside, but her feet were taking her there anyway. She stepped in through the front door. It was deserted. Her footsteps echoed in the silence.

It was tidier than she'd ever seen it. The pews were in lines down either side of the central aisle. Light shone in through the stained glass windows. A tapestry was laid over the altar, almost touching the floor.

There were stairs, up to the second floor. She followed the curving stairway, holding her breath. She'd never been up here before. The second floor was more of a balcony around the edges of the room. There were plaques lining the walls. She pushed a button underneath one of them, experimentally.

"Hello, and welcome to Stilwater Memorial Church."

Kate froze. She recognised that voice.

"My name is Julius Little, and it's no secret I've wasted many years of my life being a part of the gang problem here in Stilwater."

She took a step back in horror. "No," she said. "Oh my Jesus, no."

"Fortunately, the Ultor corporation has given me a second chance. Join me, as I take you through the past and future of Saint's Row."

Her heart was thumping in her chest almost painfully. She took another step back, then another, and then turned around and ran back down the stairs and out of the church.

She kept running, hyperventilating, pulse racing. She needed to get out of Mission Beach, and she ran back the way she'd come, back to something she recognised. She didn't stop until she was back at the underpass. The glowing lights of the strip club over the underpass were familiar, at least, and she walked in the front entrance.

"I used to work here," she said, to the bartender.

The bartender smiled. "And now you're a doctor, huh?" he said. "See, stripping your way through college can really pay off. First one's on the house, then."

Kate flushed. "Uh," she said. "Not –" She'd been doing to say 'not as a dancer', but the free drink seemed too good to pass up.

She sat down at the bar as the bartender placed a glass of champagne in front of her. She dropped her elbows on the table and hunched over her drink.

Fucked. Everything was fucked.

The TV was playing quietly, almost just background noise, when she heard a familiar name.

"-Johnny Gat facing death row-"

She looked up, startled. There was a photograph of Johnny on the screen.

"Final appeal is today-"

"Can you change the channel?" the man next to her asked.

"No!" she exclaimed. "Wait. Just a minute."

"Are you seriously watching the news in a strip club?" The man next to her was wearing red, and glaring at her.

"That's my friend," she protested.

"Johnny Gat – is your friend?" he repeated.

"Yes," she snapped, distracted.

"Then – who are-" he said.

"Reporting live from the courtroom, this is Jane Valderrama."

Kate stood up, knocking over her bar stool. "Have to go!" she said, and ran out of the bar, still carrying her glass of champagne.

She ran for the road, and leapt into the back seat of a car waiting at the lights.

"Need to go to the courthouse," she said, breathing heavily.

The driver, a woman in her 40s, stared at her. "Or what?" she asked, irritably.

"Or else I'll smash this glass against the car door, and stab you with it," replied Kate.

"No need to mess up my car," huffed the woman, and accelerated through the lights.

Kate hung on to her glass and the door handle as they hurtled through the streets, screeching around corners and speeding past cars on the wrong side of the road. When she pulled over, Kate almost tumbled out of the car with her haste to get inside.

"Thanks," she wheezed, as she tried to slam the car door shut again, but couldn't manage it. She entered the building at what felt like a glacial pace, limping and unsteady.

One of the court staff pointed her upstairs. She shuffled along, stumbling up the stairs, and opened the door to the courtroom.

Johnny was standing in the dock, next to Legal Lee. The judge was seated above them, her black hair immaculately coiffed.

"I think I'm going to enjoy watching you fry, Mr Gat," the judge said, leaning forward. "You know they're having to put in extra seating."

"I object!" Kate announced. "The judge is clearly prejudiced. I move to declare a mistrial."

The judge looked up, annoyed. "Who are you?" she asked.

Kate felt the weight of everyone's attention on her. Legal Lee was staring, bemused, the judge was glaring, and Johnny – Johnny was just watching her in disbelief. Kate looked down at herself, still in hospital scrubs.

"Hey!" said Johnny.

"Please don't speak," said Kate, loudly. "You need to save your strength." She turned to the judge. "This is my patient. He's very ill."

"I don't see how that's a problem," said the judge. "Given that he's got a week to live, tops."

"It's contagious," posited Kate. "He needs to be quarantined immediately.

The judge narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm –" Kate paused, racking her brain for an answer. "Doctor… Katherine."

"No last name?"

"I- I'm a celebrity doctor," Kate said, hoping the expression on her face wasn't giving away her discomfort. "Like Doctor Phil. One name only."

The judge raised a sceptical eyebrow. "And what are you trying to tell us is wrong with the defendant?'

"It's so rare it doesn't have a name yet," Kate said. "But, uh, I'm hoping to name it after myself."

"Katherine's disease?" said the judge, flatly. She turned to Legal Lee. "I don't know what you're trying to pull here," she said. "But I'm going to hold the whole lot of you in contempt if you don't get that woman out of my courtroom right now."

Before the guard at the door could move, she grabbed the gun from his holster and kicked him in the side of the knee. It wasn't as hard as she wanted, but he toppled to the floor anyway.

"Johnny," she yelled. "We're getting the fuck out of here!"

They ran through a hail of bullets, back down the stairs. Kate stumbled, just outside the courthouse, and almost fell down the steps. Johnny grabbed her by the arm and dragged her upright, flinging her into an empty police car and jumping behind the wheel. They pulled out into the road.

"So," said Johnny. "You really love that last-minute rescue thing, don't you?"

Kate was exhausted, but still managed to smile. "Thanks for saving me, Kate," she wheezed. "Good job dodging all those bullets."

Johnny grinned. "Some things never change, huh?" he said. "Also, damn, you look terrible. All white and skinny."

Kate was almost getting her breath back. "I haven't eaten for five years," she said. "Or been outside. Not my fuckin' fault!" She took a better look at him. "Also, Jesus. Have you just been lifting weights the entire time you've been in jail?"

He laughed. "Pretty much, yeah. You'd be surprised how many people try to take you on in the Pen."

"What were you even in for?" she asked.

"Oh, tried to kill Troy," he said, nonchalantly.

"What?" she asked. "Why?"

He laughed humourlessly. "Because he's a fuckin' cop, that's why."

"What?" Her eyes widened. "Wait, are you sure we weren't just sending him in undercover? Dex had this idea-"

"Yeah," he sneered. "I'm sure. And I don't even want to fuckin' talk about Dex right now."

Kate sat back in her seat. "Julius works for Ultor," she said quietly. "Some sort of custodian. Saw the new church."

Johnny seemed to slump a little. "You serious?" he asked. "Well, shit. Guess that's the whole gang accounted for."

They drove in silence for a minute or two. Kate leaned forward to turn on the radio. She skipped through the stations.

"Um," she said. "Where's The Faction?"

"Closed down, I think," replied Johnny. Kate's face fell.

"Shit, it's not like there aren't a whole ton of other shitty stations on out there," he said.

She flicked through the stations again. She didn't recognise a single song, until –

"Are you fuckin' serious?" Johnny asked. "Karma Chameleon?"

She looked up at him. "There are two things I recognise in this city right now," she said, her voice low and quiet. "You, and this song. That's it. I really, really need familiar things right now, because I have no fucking idea what's going on. So just let me have it."

"Yeah, whatever," said Johnny. "Calm down. If you want to listen to shitty music, feel free. No need to get upset about it."

"Where we going?" Kate asked, closing her eyes.

"I'm going to drop you at a safehouse," said Johnny. "And then I'm going home to 'Eesh."

"No fucking way!" Kate sat up in her chair. "You guys still together? That's great!"

Johnny grinned again. "Yeah," he said. "It is."

He pulled into a side street next to an old block of townhouses.

"Sorry it's not much," he said. "Saints don't command the same kind of real estate that we used to."

She got out of the car.

"Take this," he said, handing her a cellphone. "I'm gonna call you tomorrow. But, as for right now – the pussy calls."

She watched him drive away until he was out of sight.


	16. Here's Your Future

Kate was woken by an unfamiliar beeping. The cellphone Johnny had given her was ringing, the glowing screen flashing brightly in the dim basement apartment.

She picked it up and stared at it, uncomprehending. It took her a few seconds to hunt down the answer button on the screen.

"Hey," she croaked.

Johnny laughed. "I wake you up?"

"What time is it?"

"Half past eleven. What, you haven't slept enough in the past five years?"

"Fuck you," she said half-heartedly. "What are we doing?"

"Come over to my place," he said. "We live in the suburbs. Near the old Rollerz mansion, actually. I'll send you a message with the address. Jack another shitty little Socialite and get over here."

She laughed. "See you soon."

She slipped the phone into the pocket of the scrubs she was still wearing, and hit the lightswitch. A bare bulb illuminated the room weakly. It was the first time she'd really taken a good look around. It was filthy and bare, pipes running along the walls. It wasn't really an apartment – it was more of a store-room, or a maintenance room . There was a boiler in one corner, and the bed she'd slept in was more like a mattress with cushions on it. But it was somewhere, at least.

There was a small mirror on the wall, spotted with age and dampness. She peered into it.

Something looked – different. Her nose? Jaw? She'd been in an explosion – maybe they hadn't put her back together quite the same way. Or maybe she was imagining it. Her eyes were the same familiar blue, and her dark blonde hair wasn't that different. After five years it should be longer, shouldn't it? Though maybe they'd had to shave it if they did any surgery on her.

She didn't have any other clothes to get changed into, so she scraped her hair back into a ponytail and left the room.

Walking was still difficult. Her legs were less shaky, but her balance seemed to be slightly off. While she had a gun this time, she wasn't feeling up to a carjacking – if whoever she picked tried to fight back, even so much as a shove away, she'd probably lose. Hotwiring it was.

She walked almost a block before she saw a beaten up Halberd parked behind an apartment building. She smashed the back seat window, unlocked the doors, and got inside, reaching under the steering wheel.

She was stripping the wires with a piece of the broken glass when a memory suddenly leapt into her head. They were at the docks, her and Troy and some other kid, stealing a truck full of drugs from the Carnales.

"Wish I'd paid more attention when they were teaching this," he'd said.

She groaned, out loud. "For fuck's sake," she said. She hadn't thought much about it at the time, but now she saw it in a whole new light. Maybe he'd even been in a goddamn classroom.

She sighed, and touched two wires together. The car sprang into life. Kate pulled out of the parking lot and into the street.

Keeping the car steady was surprisingly hard. The speed the car was moving at was making her dizzy, the road and cars and buildings almost blurry.

The Misty Lane suburbs were blessedly familiar; the motorway off ramp, the Foreign Power dealership, the gently curving streets. To the west, however, another suburb had arisen. That had just been sea in the past – hadn't it? It must have been reclaimed land, built up out of the water.

Johnny was waiting for her outside his two-story house. It looked just like a normal house, in a normal suburb, painted white with a grass verge out the front. He laughed when he saw her car. "Goddamn," he said. "I see your driving hasn't improved any."

Kate turned back to look at the car. The car's hood had been pushed up almost blocking the windscreen, from where she'd T-boned a car while trying to turn out of a street. There was a streak of paint missing on one side, where she'd scraped it against a parked car as she tried to turn a corner, and the rear bumper was missing. She wasn't sure when that had come off.

"I think the coma did something weird to my balance," she said. "Driving was really hard."

"Sure," said Johnny. "Blame the coma. Come on inside."

The interior of the house was tidy, decorated in pale neutral tones.

"Want a beer?" Johnny asked, opening the fridge. "Got no champagne, sorry."

Kate laughed. "Sweet of you to remember," she said. "Beer's fine."

"Eesh!" Johnny yelled. "We got company. Come on down."

"Who is it?" Aisha called from upstairs.

"It's a surprise!"

"Is it Kate?"

Johnny looked up at Kate and shook his head. "Guess that was an easy one," he said. "Had to tell her how I got out."

Kate leaned against the back of the sofa and watched Aisha come down the stairs. She took the beer that Johnny offered.

Aisha was dressed in a cream pantsuit, her hair cropped short. A smile spread over her face as she descended the stairs.

"Well, hi," she said. "You look-" she hesitated. "Good."

"Pretty sure I look like shit," said Kate. "But thanks. You look good too. What have you been up to these past five years?"

Aisha ran a hand over her short hair. "Well," she said. "Being dead, I don't get out that often. I spend a little time in the studio, but it's mostly plausible b-sides and whatever else I can get away with."

Kate looked sideways at Johnny. "You set her up with a new identity?" she asked. "Right?"

He held up his hands. "Been in jail, here."

"Fucking serious?" asked Kate. "Christ." She turned to Aisha. "Your sister still in town?"

Aisha shook her head. "Took off for the capital a few years back."

Kate clasped her hands together. "Okay. As soon as – soon as we get some – contacts…" She trailed off.

Johnny grinned. "See, this is what I need you for, man. You got all these ideas. You on board with starting this show up again?"

Kate saw Aisha frown slightly.

"What would we even do?" Kate asked. "I don't know shit about what's happening in this city any more."

"All right." Johnny sat down on the couch, and motioned for her to sit next to him. "We got three gangs, right? Sons of Samedi – mostly drug runners but goddamn are they crazy. There's the Brotherhood, who're well-armed but dumb as shit, and then there's the Ronin. Well organised, well-funded."

Kate leaned back into the sofa. The idea of starting from zero, again – was intimidating. It was a huge task. "Can we talk about the others?" she asked. "Like, how Troy's a cop-"

Johnny laughed. "Is that all I told you? Oh no. Not just any cop. Chief of fuckin' Police."

Kate's eyes widened. "What? How? What?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say he got fast-tracked up the career ladder because of his gang experience," said Johnny thoughtfully. "Never got the chance to congratulate him in person. Funny thing, though, prison guards started going a lot easier on me once he made Chief."

She tilted her head to one side. "Interesting," she said. "Okay. What's this thing about Dex?"

"Oh, Jesus," said Johnny, letting his head fall backwards against the back of the sofa. "Works for Ultor. Pretty high up, too. Got out of the Saints just before everything went down. Good fuckin' timing. Little too good, if you ask me."

"Guess him and Julius take lunch breaks together," said Kate glumly.

Johnny laughed. "Probably," he said. "So. You in?"

Kate folded her arms. "Give me a day," she said. "I just want to, like, figure out this city again. Drive around. See what the gangs are like. Shit like that. You know?"

Johnny drained his beer. "Yeah," he said. "Whatever. Try not to crash your shitheap of a car too badly. And get some fuckin' clothes."

Kate looked down at herself. The scrubs she was wearing were getting worn and wrinkled. "Good idea," she said. "See you tomorrow, Johnny. Aisha."

She walked down the path and out to the street. Her car looked even worse, somehow. She got in anyway, used the wires to start the car once more, and pulled out into the street, gears crunching. She drove, slowly and mostly uneventfully, back to her basement apartment and closed the door behind her.

She dialled numbers into her phone. It was almost as if she was unable to stop herself. She closed her eyes.

"Stilwater police department." The voice on the other end was cool and professional.

"Uh, I'd like to speak to the chief of police," she said.

"May I ask what this is about?"

Kate paused. "It's about the recent escapee from Stilwater Pen."

"Is this a media enquiry? We're referring those to our communications spokesman."

"No," said Kate. "It's more of a tip."

"We have a dedicated tip-line on 1-800-"

"No," Kate said, again. "I really only want to speak to Troy. He – uh, he knows me. Ask him if you like. My name's – Katherine."

The woman sighed. "I'll call up to his office to see if he'll take it," she said. "One moment, please."

Kate closed her eyes as tinny hold music started to play. There was no way in hell this was a good idea. It was ridiculous. It was foolish. She should just hang-

The hold music stopped. There was silence for a long moment, then an almost inaudible exhalation of breath.

"Hello?" asked Troy.

Kate took a deep breath. "Hey," she said.

He hung up.

She took the phone away from her ear and stared at it.

"Fuck," she said. Stupid idea. Stupid.

She was still staring at it when it rang. She blinked at it for a second. It was a cellphone number. She hit the answer button and lifted it to her ear.

"What the fuck are you doing?" asked Troy.

"I just-" she began.

"Just thought you'd fuckin' call me up at work? See how I was doing?"

"I -"

"Want to take your shot at me too? Noticed you busted Gat out of jail, maybe you two could work something out together."

"Jesus, Troy, what the fuck-"

"You're asking me what the fuck? I should be asking you what the fuck."

"If you'd let me fucking talk I'd explain!"

There was a long sigh. "Okay, Katie. What do you want?"

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Katie. "I just wanted to talk to you."

He snorted. "Yeah. Sure. You want to talk."

"Johnny said you'd been investigating the boat explosion."

There was a pause. "Yeah," he said, finally. "You – you remember any of it?"

She ran a hand through her hair. "A little? I was talking to – that guy. The Alderman. It was dark. That's – that's all I've got."

"You remember anything he said?"

Kate frowned. "He was – threatening me. He said something important, but – I don't remember what that was."

"Helpful," said Troy.

She closed her eyes. "I want to see you," she said, quietly.

Troy laughed. "Yeah," he said. "Sure. Come into the station any time you like. Just give them your name at the desk."

Kate laughed too, but uneasily. "That wasn't really what I was thinking," she said. "Somewhere more neutral, maybe?"

"That sounds like a great idea too," said Troy. "I'd just end up dead at the end. Is that how this plan goes?"

She frowned. "I don't want to kill you, Troy," she said. "I'm just – I woke up, a day ago. It feels like it's been a couple of weeks since everything – everything happened, but it's been five years, and I'm trying to just – put everything back together."

There was a long silence. "And why do you think I'd help you with that?" he asked.

"The doctor told me you wouldn't let them turn my life support off."

This time the silence drew out so long that she wasn't even sure that he was still there.

"Fuck," he said, at last. "Alright. Listen. I'll call you, tomorrow, with a location. You'll have fifteen minutes to get there. You'll come alone. If you're late, or if anyone else shows up, I'm out."

"Okay," said Kate. "I'll be waiting."


	17. Every Single Line Means Something

Kate took a deep breath, and stepped outside. Cash. She needed cash. Clothes – once she'd sorted out the cash out, that shouldn't be such a problem. And she needed a better car. She cast a sideways glance at the Halberd. It had been pretty shit even before she'd crashed it a few times, if she was honest. Still, it wasn't smoking yet.

She got back in and headed north, over the bridge. She was trying not to damage the car any more than she already had, but actually staying in the right lane and staying at a moderate speed was harder than she remembered. She drove along the waterfront at the north end of the island. This part of town, at least, made sense. She remembered it, although not as well as she would have liked to. She pulled over in front of a line of stores, parking half on the sidewalk and half into the street. They looked high-end. Robbing stores was easy money, but she wasn't sure she could cope with the getaway.

She walked into a shoe shop. The shoes were stunningly high, with tapering stiletto heels and bright colours. She picked one up, experimentally, and turned it over.

There was a store assistant coming over, probably to make sure she wasn't stealing, and Kate turned to her.

"Do you think I could get these in a purple sole instead of a red sole?" she asked.

"Well – you could, I guess," said the assistant, in heavily accented English. "But why would you want to do that? You'd be devaluing it by at least fifty per-" She stopped, eyes wide. "Oh."

Kate turned towards her. The assistant was slender, with large brown eyes and a slick of red lipstick. Her dark hair was swept across her forehead and back into an elegant twist.

"Oh," said Kate, back. "It's you. From the mansion."

"That's right," she said, eyes flashing. "From the mansion. I hope you enjoyed it."

"Didn't really get the chance," said Kate. "Luz, wasn't it? You – work here?"

Luz's eyes narrowed a fraction. "Yes," she said, sulkily.

"I thought you'd left town."

"I – had," Luz admitted, looking away. "To Colombia with Manuel. But now – he says I am not necessary. He sends me back here to – to manage distribution, he says. He just wants me out of the picture so he can get together with Daniela."

Kate put the shoe back down on the glass shelf. "The Colombians are still in the game?" she asked. "That's good."

Luz huffed. "Hardly. Market share's not so good lately, everyone's wanting this Loa dust. Still." She shrugged. "I move what I can but there are so many Ronin here it's hard to get anywhere on my own. So – I work here."

Luz took a step back, looking Kate up and down. "What about you, then?" she sneered. "You get a medical degree while you were in a coma?"

Kate put her hands on her hips. "Well, when I broke out of the Pen, this is all I could take. And now it's all I own. Little hard up for cash."

"Join the club," said Luz unhappily. "So you won't be buying…" She trailed off, looking at Kate thoughtfully.

"What?" Kate asked, uneasily.

"I think we might be able to help each other out," said Luz, a smile spreading over her face. "You have a cash flow problem – and I have a distribution problem. Manuel has given me a-" she hesitated – "a protection budget."

Kate ran her tongue over her teeth. "That sounds – interesting," she said. She had the sense that she was standing on the edge of a precipice, about to step off. "Got anything in the way of weaponry? I'm a little light."

Luz smiled. "My car is just outside," she said. "Why don't we go have a look at it?"

Luz's car was a pale blue convertible that shone in the sunlight. Luz took a quick look around, making sure no one was close enough to see inside, and popped the trunk.

"Oh," said Kate. There was a shotgun, an SMG, and a Krukov, lying there, gleaming. "Well." She reached out to touch the barrel of the shotgun reverentially. "That's – awfully tempting."

"Let me just close up the shop for a minute," said Luz, fishing in her bag for her keychain.

"I guess it would be helpful to re-establish ties with the Colombians," Kate murmured.

"Manuel would like that," said Luz, looking at her critically. "And after we are finished I will take you shopping. I think you might need my help."

"Sounds like fun," said Kate, picking up the rifle experimentally. "So, the Ronin, is it? I have a good feeling about this."

She climbed into the car next to Luz, but facing backwards, wrapping her leg around the seat.

"You have to sit like that?" asked Luz. "It's distracting."

"It's for stability," snapped Kate. "It's easier." She rested the Krukov next to the headrest. "See?"

Luz waved a hand. "Whatever you want," she said.

Their car didn't attract much attention at first. Luz was a fairly careful driver and the locations she'd chosen seemed to be discreet. She made a few quiet deals, hopping out of the car to talk to a customer for a minute then getting back in. It wasn't until they'd been on the road for half an hour or so that Kate noticed anything.

"Guy on a motorbike looks like he's following us," she said.

"What colour's he wearing?" asked Luz.

"Black and yellow."

"That's them."

Kate looked back at him. "I'll just wait until he starts – okay, okay, he's started shooting at us." She squinted down the sights of the rifle and fired a burst at the rider. They were knocked from their seat, the bike spinning out of control, kicking up sparks as it scraped against the asphalt.

"Not a bad start," said Luz, noncommittally. "But there will be more."

"I'm counting on it," said Kate.

More cars were coming at them, weaving through the traffic. Kate fired, but the recoil of the muzzle was too hard for her shaky arms to compensate for, and she couldn't keep the barrel straight.

"Got anything?' asked Kate. "Like, you know. Anything to keep my hands steady?"

Luz cast a critical glance towards her. "Sample _llello_ in the glove box," she said. "If you really need it - help yourself."

Kate twisted around in her seat and yanked the glove box open. A small packet of white powder fell to the floor. She retrieved it, tapped a small amount onto the back of her wrist, and snorted it.

"Fuckin' Jesus," she said, as her nose began to burn. "Is this even cut?"

Luz smiled. "If there's even anything the Colombians won't screw you on, it's their _llello_. Everything else-" she waved a hand in the air. "Fair game. Assholes."

Kate pulled her pistol from the back of her waistband and knelt on the seat, facing backwards once more. She lifted her arm.

"What are you doing?" yelled Luz. "Get down, they're shooting at us!"

There was a yellow car tailing them, and another Ronin on a bike.

"I am at least 90% sure I can still do this," said Kate, as she lined up the gun, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet pierced the visor of the motorbike helmet. The rider dropped, bonelessly, into the street. The Ronin car, following behind closely, couldn't get out of the way in time and drove over the body. Kate laughed in delight as the Ronin swerved and braked at the same time, spinning to a stop with bloodstained tyre tracks. "Did you see that?" she yelled.

"I'm watching the road," Luz snapped. "You watch the Ronin."

"Relax," said Kate. "You have nothing to worry about. Wait, does that guy have a fucking _sword_?"

Another car was coming up behind them. Kate used both hands to aim and sent a bullet through the windshield of the yellow car, which slowly ground to a halt. The driver must have fallen forward onto the steering wheel, as the car let out a long blast on its horn.

"Okay," said Luz. "I saw that one. Not bad."

The wind was blowing Kate's hair back against her face, and the feeling of the warm sunshine and cool air against her skin made her feel almost invincible.

They pulled into an empty parking building, and Kate took the opportunity to retrieve the Krukov, firing indiscriminately at the crush of cars that was trying to block their way out.

Luz hopped back in the car. "Well, that's all," she said, her voice raised over the sound of gunfire. "I will take you to the mall. You need new clothes." Luz curled her lip as she looked at Kate's scrubs, dusty and stained and splattered with blood. "Stat."

The mall was on the corner where she'd stood, five years ago, about to assassinate the chief of police. The memory of it was so vivid she found it hard to breath. She'd been standing here with Dex, Johnny was on a neighbouring rooftop, the procession had come from the street running alongside.

"Come on," said Luz impatiently.

Kate dragged herself out of her reverie and followed her inside.

Luz had a good eye for fashion, Kate had to admit. Even if she had a tendency to swing towards red as a colour choice.

"Purple," Kate had said. "We wear purple."

"Purple looks terrible on eighty percent of people," Luz said. "Trust me, you look better in red."

" _Purple_ ," Kate insisted.

Luz shook her head, but didn't argue any more.

Kate ended up with so many bags she found it hard to carry all of them. She had tight snakeskin pants, leather miniskirts, shirts, pairs of jeans, jackets and some truly ridiculous shoes. She'd even been able to find a purple singlet, denim cutoffs, and canvas shoes, her old favourite outfit.

"You are just going to wear that all the time, aren't you?" said Luz. "Ridiculous. After all the effort I put in to making you look amazing."

"You sound like Stefan," murmured Kate.

"Don't you even talk to me about Stefan," said Luz venomously. "That little snake."

"He's an A-grade asshole," agreed Kate. "Look – I should be going."

Luz nodded. "After clothes, your pay comes to – three-five?" She sounded almost uncertain, but it had been more than Kate was expecting.

"Sure thing," said Kate. "Thanks. It's been fun." She hesitated. "You should – give me your number. I'd be interested in working something out with the Colombians, if they're struggling lately."

Luz looked at her through wary eyes. "You would need to expand your operations," she said. "Maybe take on the Samedi. Is that what you're planning?"

Kate froze. "I – haven't decided yet," she said. But her words didn't even sound convincing in her own ears.


	18. Hazel Street

Troy's call came just as she bit into a burger. Processed beef, plastic cheese, pickles that tasted like a little like metal and sauce that she couldn't identify, all in one glorious bite. It was the first real food she'd paid any attention to since leaving the prison, and it tasted like artery-clogging heaven.

She struggled to swallow her mouthful as the phone rang, desperately gulping from the huge plastic cup of soda so she could answer in time.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Meet me at the Marina District. Café at the south end of the strip. Fifteen minutes. Wait for me there. Don't tell anyone, don't bring anyone. And don't fuckin' wear purple."

"Don't wear a fucking uniform, then," she said.

The line went dead.

She turned dubiously to look at the clothes she'd bought, still in bags strewn over the floor. There really had been a lot of purple. Purple and black. She began tossing the clothes onto the bed, hurriedly, messily, trying to throw an outfit together. She finally settled on the black snakeskin trousers Luz had insisted on and a black silk shirt with a purple collar. Close enough.

The midday sun was blazing as she ran up the stairs from her basement apartment. She didn't have much time – she'd have to drive fast. She narrowed her eyes, got into the car, and hit the gas pedal.

She parked on the boardwalk – which she wasn't sure she was allowed to do, but she was running late enough that she didn't care. The café itself was a little run down, with a brick façade and empty plastic tables and chairs outside. She took a seat at a table and checked her phone. She was almost ten minutes late. She grimaced. Had he left already? Cancelled the whole thing?

"Hey."

She looked up. It was Troy, wearing a dark blue jersey and jeans. His hair was shorter, and – there was something else different that she couldn't quite figure out. She saw him notice the purple of her collar, but he didn't say anything.

"Why'd you pick this place?" she asked, as casually as she could. "It's a dump."

"Because it's a dump," he said. "Not really looking for an audience right now."

He still sounded the same. Kate smiled. "That is one hell of a cop moustache," she said.

Troy hesitated, for a moment, and then sat down opposite her.

"I don't mean it in a bad way," she continued. "But Jesus, if you'd had something like that with the Saints we'd have figured you out first thing."

Troy was different. He sat straighter, watched her more closely. Silently.

"Did you grow it so you'd look more like a chief of police?" she asked. "Is it like an image thing?"

She saw a flicker of discomfort in his eyes, and smiled.

"I wasn't sure it was really you," he said.

"Until now?"

"Until now." He fixed her with a piercing stare. "They said you weren't gonna wake up."

"You disappointed?" She leaned back in her seat a little, crossing her legs.

"Not that you woke up."

A blonde waitress came to take their orders, then left again.

She smiled, showing her teeth. "The doctor told me you didn't let them turn my life support off."

He took a crumpled pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit one. "Yeah, well, the State of Michigan felt that justice would be better served if criminals went to trial and were sentenced by a jury of their peers." He held out the pack to her.

She took one, and leaned forward to let him light it for her. "That's what the State of Michigan felt?" she asked, tilting her head to one side teasingly. "Did the State of Michigan receive any advice from Stilwater law enforcement?"

Troy looked away. "It was a hell of a position to defend," he admitted. "It was a fucking mess beginning to end."

"Well," she said, smiling faintly. "I appreciate it."

He rolled his eyes. "My pleasure."

The waitress came back with their coffee.

She tapped cigarette ash into the tray. "You having this place watched?" she asked.

He looked down at his cup, then back up at her. "There aren't many people I trust."

She narrowed her eyes slightly. "I don't know if you mean that you don't trust me not to try to kill you or you don't trust your guys to keep this meeting a secret."

He laughed humourlessly. "Good."

She took a sip of her coffee.

He leaned forward. "So are we just going to dance around? What do you want, Katie? A fresh start? I can set you up with a new ID if you want to start over. Social security number. Anything."

"I – don't know," she said. "I've just been trying to figure out what's going on."

"Don't get back into that life, Katie," he said, then corrected himself. "Kate."

She reached out her hand and used a finger to drag up the sleeve of his jersey, feeling his arm tense under her fingertip. There was a large, ornate Celtic cross tattooed on his forearm.

"Still got it," she said.

He shrugged. "Getting rid of it's more trouble than it's worth."

"It's always going to be part of you."

He looked away. "Doesn't mean anything."

She tapped her fingers against her cup. "I don't know what I'm going to do, Troy. I mean, Christ, you're in a coma for five years and all your hard work's for nothing. All these new gangs just come in to take your place."

Troy sighed. "Things could be better. I heard you've already met the Ronin."

She smiled, delighted. "And how did you hear that?"

"Guess you just make an impression on people wherever you go," he said.

"Guess I do," she said." Do you ever see Dex?"

"It might surprise you to learn," he said. "That I don't really keep in touch with the guys. Not that I don't appreciate it when they drop by to say 'hi', and try and kill you."

She laughed. "What'd Johnny do, anyway?" she asked. "I've kind of been wondering."

"It's Gat," said Troy. "Fuck do you think he did? He walked into the police station with a shotgun in each hand. I've got the whole thing on security footage if you wanna see it."

"That does sound like a Johnny plan," she admitted. "Did he get very close?"

"Not really," he said. "But closer than I'd like. Obviously."

"I don't think he wants to try it again," she said. "I think he's over it, to be honest."

"Great," he said. "Next time I don't die I'll remember to be grateful."

She drained the rest of her coffee. "So what else?" she asked. "You married now? It's been a while since we've caught up."

He smiled, but there was a hard look about it. "Was," he said. "Few years back. Didn't last."

"How come?"

He looked at her through narrowed eyes. "Getting a little personal here, aren't we?"

She gave him a half-smile. "Just curious. Was it because you're so fucking defensive all the time?"

He held the stare for a moment more. "Drank too much," he said, holding up a finger. "Smoked too much." Another finger. "Worked too much." A third finger. "And that's about the whole story."

She looked up at him. "Sorry to hear it didn't work out."

He shrugged. "Didn't really come as a surprise. That's life."

He looked so grim Kate thought she should change the topic. "Johnny said you'd been investigating the boat bombing," she said.

"Well," said Troy. "He's right."

"What'd you find out?"

He paused for a moment, studying her. "Nothing I can tell you about."

"Fuck's sake, Troy," she said, stabbing the butt of her cigarette out into the ashtray. "I almost died. Lost five years."

"I know," he said. "Christ. I know."

She sat back, folding her arms. "You weren't involved, were you?"

"Jesus!" he exclaimed. "No. Of course not."

"So how involved were you?" asked Kate. "In everything. Did you know the Winslow thing was going to go down?"

"Winslow," repeated Troy. "I haven't – haven't heard that name in years." He wrapped both hands around the coffee cup and looked down at it. "No. I didn't know that was going to happen. I was just – just an agent, we didn't get filled in. For a long time I just thought it was you guys trying to get revenge for Monroe taking Julius."

She sighed. "I didn't realise until way too late that was what it was meant to look like."

"Yeah, well. That makes two of us, don't it?" he said, bitterly.

"How did you get to be chief so fast, anyway?" she asked.

"They wanted someone that had experience with Stilwater's gang problems. I didn't really chase it, but I didn't decline it, either. Some days I think I should have."

"Doesn't Stilwater have a whole new gang problem now anyway?" she asked. "I mean – not trying to imply you're ineffective, but it just seems like something's gone wrong somewhere."

He grimaced. "Ultor's got our fucking balls in a vice," he said. "You know – when I took this job, I wasn't expecting all the politics that goes with it. Guess that was naïve."

"This town needs cleaning up, Troy," she said. "And it doesn't look like the cops are going to do it, no offence."

"Look," he said, leaning forward and lowering his voice. She leaned forward to hear him. "I don't want to see you end up dead. So – if you're going to do this – I'm going to give you some advice."

Her eyes widened slightly.

"Get rid of anyone that intentionally fucks you over," he said. "Permanently. No second chances. Tie up your loose ends. Don't try and fight a war on three fronts at once, you won't win. Look after your guys. Don't be reckless and sacrifice things or people you don't have to. And be prepared to back off if you can't win."

"What about you?" she asked. "Do you count as someone who fucked me over? A loose end?"

"Katie," he said. "I've never done anything to hurt you. Ever."

She blinked at him for a moment. "Yeah," she said. "Guess maybe you're right."

"And don't expect special treatment from the cops," he said. "I'm not going to make that call."

"Of course not," said Kate. "But, you know – we might be able to help out from time to time. Like if you know someone's guilty but can't get a warrant to search their place. Things like that."

"You're pushing it," he said, and stood up. He paused for a moment. "It was good to see you again."

She nodded, not getting up. "Yeah," she said. "It was. I'll be seeing you around."

He hesitated, just as he was about to leave the table. "And watch out for Gat," he said.

Kate frowned. "What for?"

"You ever felt bad about killing someone?"

She ran her tongue over her teeth. "Yeah," she said, quietly.

"He hasn't."

She stared wordlessly after him as he turned and walked away.


	19. House of Cards

Kate sat in the driver's seat of her car on the boardwalk, seatbelt undone, ignoring the curious glances of the people that walked past.

She started the car as it began to ring, and reversed back onto the road.

After a good eight rings, Johnny picked up.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Okay," said Kate. "Let's do this."

"Do – what?"

"You know." Kate waved a hand as she ran a red light. "This. The Saints."

"Well I'm glad you've made up your mind," said Johnny. "Finally. Get over here and let's talk about what we're doing next."

"Do you have a plan?" asked Kate, curiously.

"Yeah. Yeah, you could say that."

"Does it involve murdering people?" she asked.

There was a pause. "Yeah," said Johnny again, thoughtfully. "Guess it does."

"Right," said Kate. "Well, give me half an hour and-"

Her words were cut off in a crunch of metal as her car hit the car in front. The phone was knocked from her hand, and she was thrown forwards into the steering wheel, her seatbelt still lying, undone, next to her. Black smoke was pouring out of the bonnet of her car, and beginning to fill the air inside.

She gasped for a second, trying to regain her breath.

The phone, lying in the driver's side footwell, was crackling tinnily at her. She picked it up, half dazed.

"Katie. Katie?" Johnny was calling for her. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," she said, prodding at her chest gently. Nothing felt broken. "Just hit a-" She sat up straighter. "Just hit a _Bezier_ ," she said. "Okay, let's make it – I'll see you in ten."

He laughed. "Try not to kill yourself," he said, and hung up.

She got out of the car with a grin on her face, and began to walk towards the driver's side door of the Bezier.

* * *

She arrived in Misty Lane fifteen minutes later, driving a bright blue Bezier with the back smashed in and no rear bumper. Johnny opened the door before she got to it.

"Your, uh, head's bleeding," he said, reaching up to touch her eyebrow. "Looks like it's stopping though."

She frowned. "Must have smashed it into the steering wheel," she said. "Still. Came out of that pretty well." She turned back to look at the Bezier, its paint shimmering in the sun.

"You should get that fixed up," said Johnny. "Before you blow it up. You're lucky the engine's in the back, considering how often you rear-end people."

"And never get rear-ended myself," she said. "Sadly."

"You can't complain about that, you got plenty of opportunities." He said. "Anyway, Come inside."

She followed him into the house.

"So I'm glad you finally decided to come around," he said. "Kind of shows your loyalty to the Saints."

"What Saints?" she asked, bleakly. "There's you."

"So it's just your loyalty to me that's in question?" His smile darkened. "That's just making it personal."

"Johnny – I didn't mean it like that." She leant against the back of the sofa. "I just – I was trying to figure out what I can do, you know? I don't want to start a gang war if I'm not capable of it, you know? Like I'm not going to pass out every time I hear a gunshot or some shit like that."

He shrugged. "Busy morning?" he asked. "I see you're no longer a doctor."

She looked down at herself. The snakeskin pants looked a little ridiculous, skintight, scaled, and vaguely shiny. "Ran into an old friend," she said, carefully.

"Yeah?" he asked. "Who?"

She bit her lip. She should tell him about Troy. She should really tell him.

"Luz," she said. "Remember her? From the Carnales. She's running coke downtown. We caught up."

"Oh hey." His smile lost some of its hard edge. "That was you? I think I saw some of that on TV."

"I figure if we get the Colombians onside then that sets up a potential income stream," she said. "Though apparently the – er, the voodoo gang? I forgot the name. But they have some sort of psychoactive they're pushing which is quite popular. But come on, who doesn't like coke?"

Johnny's grin widened. "And here's me thinking you spent the morning printing job applications."

"Well, shit." She smiled back. "It was always going to be this way," she said. "Come on, you knew it. You can take the girl out of the Saints but you can't take the Saints – I don't think this sentence is going to end the way I want it to."

"Way I remember it," he said. "There weren't many Saints in the girl in the first place."

"I don't know why you're so obsessed with this," she said, covering her eyes with her hands. "It's weird."

He scoffed. "I am not the weird one in this scenario. Believe me. How long's it been for you, five years? Probably longer."

Kate turned her head, seeing movement out of the corner of her eye. "Aisha!" she exclaimed, loudly. "How have you been?"

She frowned. "Since I saw you yesterday?" she asked. "Good, I guess?"

"You sick of Johnny yet?" Kate continued. "God knows he can be a pain in the ass."

Johnny shrugged lazily. "Must be why I got shanked a lot in prison."

A soft smile spread over Aisha's face. "I think it might take a bit longer until I get sick of seeing him around every day," she said. She looked over at Johnny. "He was away a long time." She paused, watching him. "But – that don't mean you don't have to take your feet off the coffee table."

He dropped them to the floor with a thud. "Fine," he said. "So we going to talk about doing this shit or what?"

Katie took a seat next to him and leaned forward. "It's just – it seems like such a huge task. Where do we even start? There's you. And me."

Johnny leaned back. "I got a couple of contacts from prison I think might be interested. Seeing as I didn't have the luxury of taking a five year nap."

She glared half-heartedly. "And what about, like, a headquarters?"

"What's wrong with this place?"

"No," Aisha said firmly. "No way in hell."

"She's kinda right," said Kate. "It's a house in a nice suburb. Your lady lives here. You remember how many times the Church got attacked by gangs last time? You don't want that shit round here."

"Yeah," said Johnny. "Yeah, okay. There's a place I'm thinking about. Old mission building."

"Cute," said Kate. "Continuing the theme. Nice."

"Yeah, it's a bit of a fixer-upper, but whatever."

"Anyone currently living in it?"

"Sons of Samedi and crazy homeless guys."

She nodded. "Sounds manageable."

"It's in a good location, too. Underground."

Kate grimaced. "Well that sounds… rat-infested."

"Nah, man, it's really cool. See, the whole city of Stilwater was destroyed in an earthquake, and instead of clearing it all out and starting over, they just built over the top of it."

"What," Kate asked, flatly. "Okay that's kind of incredibly cool, but, like, what happens if there's another earthquake? Is the top city just going to collapse into the bottom city?"

Johnny shrugged. "I dunno."

"Well-" she said. "It's just if that's potentially going to happen, and even without an earthquake it's still a little unsure whether building foundations are really going to be able to carry a building's weight considering there's a void below – then – well, what I'm trying to say is that if there's another big earthquake, or even a little earthquake, or just the stress gets too high from the buildings overhead – and we're down there, then – we're all going to die."

Johnny had taken off his sunglasses and was staring at her blankly. "I'm sorry," he said. "What? Was there some kind of point in there?"

Kate felt her cheeks turning red. "I felt my point was adequately summed up by the 'all going to die' bit."

"How do you know this shit anyway?" Johnny got up from the sofa and headed into the kitchen to grab a couple of beers.

"I, uh, did like this one engineering paper at college," she said, cheeks still burning. "Whatever. Do you want to go show me the place now?"

"Eh, why not?" he said, tossing her the beer. "One for the road."

She followed him out to the car, and noticed him hesitate as they walked towards the Bezier.

"Katie," he said, standing next to it. "The idea of you driving this car is not filling me with confidence."

"Do you know how carefully I drove it on the way over here?" she asked, indignantly. "I didn't hit anything. Not once."

He stared at her for another few moments. "Okay," he said. "I'm gonna trust you. This time. But only because your car is pretty damn close to exploding and you seem kind of attached to it."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay," she said. "Fine. Whatever. Get in."

The Bezier purred as she turned the ignition key. "Just tell me where to go."

It turned out to be close to her shitty basement apartment. The church was in the middle of a block of slums, rubbish strewn over the parking lot. There was a neon light depicting a pair of praying hands on the sign outside.

She followed Johnny through the door, gun help loosely in her hand.

It didn't compare to the Saints Row Church. The wallpaper was peeling from the decaying wooden walls, and the faded carpet smelled musty and damp. But, there was still an altar at the head of the room, on a slightly raised step. It was simple and wooden, but covered in thick white candles. Behind that was a stained glass window, and just for a moment – Kate could imagine she was back at the Church.

"There something interesting about those candles?" Johnny asked, impatiently. "We got work to do."

She turned to follow him down the stairs. They led the pair down further and further, growing more and more rickety with each flight. Debris – piles of cracked masonry and rotting timber – was pushed up against the walls.

Eventually, it opened out abruptly, revealing marble-columned walls and faded wallpaper. Kate stared. It had been covered in graffiti and worn away by time, but the room they'd emerged in looked like part of a high class hotel. A window at one end of the room was hung with thick tapestry curtains, but had been bricked up.

"This is amazing," she whispered.

Johnny held up a hand. She stopped abruptly.

"Down there." His words were barely audible as his lips brushed her ear. "See them?"

She moved forward to see better, looking out from a marble balcony over what seemed to have been a large lobby area. Men and women were slouching on dirty sofas around a fire in the middle of the floor.

"Samedi?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Let's get started then," she breathed, aiming her gun, steadying it, and then pulling the trigger.

There was immediate chaos as the Samedi tried to figure out where the shots were coming from. Johnny charged down the stairs, firing indiscriminately. Kate scrambled forward, gun outstretched to cover him.

They were closing in on him too fast. She shot one through the neck; another in the eye, but she couldn't keep up. A tall man with a shaved head was moving in. Johnny lifted his shotgun to shoulder height and smashed it into his face, sending him stumbling backwards. It gave Kate long enough to reload and fire, shattering the man's skull and splattering Johnny with his blood.

He turned back to look up at her. "Do you mind?" he asked, mildly. "'Eesh only washed this yesterday."

In response, Kate carefully eliminated another gang member that had been running towards him with a crowbar.

"Pay attention," she admonished, equally calmly.

He grinned at her and began firing again.

Kate picked her way around the planks of wood that acted as some sort of catwalk from one balcony to the next, mopping up the stragglers and those too far away to have heard the first gunshots.

They made one more circuit to make sure they'd cleared the area; Kate taking the top , the balconies and loose planks and delicate, degrading second floor rooms, while Johnny took the paved streets below.

They met up back where they'd started, in the room with the sofas and the fire, still burning merrily.

"That was actually kind of fun," she said.

"There's the Katie I remember," he said. "But we're not done yet. Got the squatters to evict." He reloaded his shotgun.

"Are they really just crazy homeless people?" she asked.

"Think so." Johnny shrugged.

"Well – let me try something first."

The squatters had built shelters out of cardboard boxes, bits of plywood, anything they could get their hands on.

"Can I have your attention please?" she called out. "This area has been designated unsafe by – er – City Hall. You're all going to have to leave immediately."

There was a chorus of drunken dissent.

"I know," she said. "Look – we've been doing geotechnical tests on this land for a year. It just isn't safe. It could come down at any minute and the rescue operation is going to have a shit of a time with this place. You just need to leave. Now."

"Did Ultor put you up to this?" grumbled one of them.

"What?" she asked. "No. What?"

"We don't have anywhere else to go," said a woman quietly .

Kate looked towards Johnny, guiltily. He shrugged.

"Maybe – maybe we could just get you to move a few blocks down," Kate invented. "The, er, land is a lot more stable over there. This area is off-limits indefinitely."

There was another grumble, but a general movement of the squatters towards their shanties as they began to pick up their stuff.

Johnny turned towards her. He shook his head. "That's a weakness," he said. He almost sounded disappointed. "That's going to get you in trouble one day."

"Yeah," mumbled Kate. "I know."


	20. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

"Freaks and misfits," said Kate. "That's what we are. Including myself, of course."

Johnny looked at her. "You're sounding real enthusiastic about this," he said.

"It's just – I get shooting up some Ronin as a way to prove how great I am. Stunt jumps, a little less. Towing some asshole's car because of a personal debt – shit, you can hire a fucking debt collector to do that."

Johnny sighed. "Katie – we don't have much of a choice. It's not like we got the resources to assemble a crack team of mercs or something. We've gotta work with what we've got. Plus Carlos is your boy, man, that one's on you."

She frowned. "He's so young," she said. "I feel weird about it."

"He's probably had more experience on the streets than you," said Johnny.

"What?"

"Well you didn't grow up in a gang family, far as I can tell. You were in for half a year five years ago and you're only just coming back in. You said Carlos had an older brother in the Saints, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I think he's dead. Didn't want to ask."

"Well then he knows how things work. Doesn't matter how old he is."

She stared at him, unconvinced.

"I'm not saying he can handle himself better than you or anything," Johnny continued. "Though you – when you first joined the Saints – versus him now might be an interesting fight. Fuck, your canonisation was hilarious." He grinned. "You were all fuckin' elbows. Dex and I laughed about that for-" he paused, the smile sliding off his face. "For weeks," he finished.

"If you're getting nostalgic for laughing at me being a fuckup I'm going to punch you," said Kate. "Let's get the team together and work out what we're doing."

Johnny sneered at her, but got out his phone and began dialling.

An hour later, they were all gathered around the open fire in the middle of their new base. The marble stairs were crumbling, and there was a huge stone statue poised on the landing that had lost its arms.

She was uncomfortably aware of the space outside the room, extending back into the dark, silent ruins of the old city. The rooms overhead had holes in the walls and sometimes the floor, and the creaking as people walked across the floor above concerned her a little – but it was a start.

There were men and women she didn't know, who'd somehow heard about their nascent gang and decided to try their luck. She even thought she recognised a few faces, maybe prior Saints who'd missed their old ways and latched onto the gang when they heard about it – but she couldn't be sure.

They crowded around the fire, almost filling the room. Their faces were eager, questioning.

"What's happening?" Kate whispered to Johnny.

"Say something," he hissed back. "They're waiting for you to tell us what we're doing."

"What?" She stared at him. "Why me?"

"Because you're running this show, that's why."

"I don't know what to say!"

"Jesus." Johnny closed his eyes. "Tell them why they're here and what we're doing. It's not like you're holding a seminar or some shit."

"Alright," said Kate, her voice quiet in the silence. "Well, thanks – everyone – for coming." She paused. "The Saints used to be a big deal in this town – some of you might remember. We systematically eliminated every other gang in town over the course of a few months. We faced long odds, and we beat them. And we can do it again."

Kate was startled as a voice from the crowd behind her yelled out "Yeah!" This triggered a cheer that rose up around her. She waited for it to die down before she spoke again.

"Okay, so - let's talk about our first moves. Pierce, I want to put you on the Ronin, 'cause you seem to have some kind of background with them. Shaundi, I'm going to give you the Samedi-"

Shaundi gave an indrawn hiss of breath. "Really?"

Kate looked up at her. "Well I don't want to give them to Carlos."

"Why not?" Carlos asked, defensively.

"I just don't, okay?" said Kate. "Samedi have got some kind of drug distribution ring going on. Keep your head down if you're nervous about investigating it. I just want you to observe at this stage, I don't want anyone rushing off to get killed."

"Fine," said Shaundi. "Alright."

Kate turned to Carlos with a smile. "And that gives you the Brotherhood. Think you can handle it?"

"No problem," he said, his face solemn.

"What about Johnny?" asked Shaundi.

"He's-" Kate tapped her fingers together, trying to find the right word. "Resource. Trust me, it'll work better this way than having him focus on just one target."

There was a low hum of conversation around the room.

"And come to me if you have any problems," she added. "We'll sort them out."

They seemed to take it as their cue to disperse.

"Great speech," said Johnny. "You sounded like a little league coach. Real inspirational."

She glared. "Well next time, fucking warn me if I'm going to have to say something. I'm not Julius, okay, I can't pull inspiring speeches out of my ass on command."

Johnny snorted. "I don't think Julius could, either. Remember what Benjamin King said that one time? About Julius stealing his lines?"

Kate frowned. "Yeah, actually. Yeah. I'd forgotten."

"I've been thinking about what you said about Julius being some kind of janitor for Ultor," Johnny said.

"Custodian," Kate corrected.

"Same thing. Point is, something here ain't right."

"Why?" she asked. "Maybe he just wanted to fix his life up."

"Quick change of heart, don't you think?" Johnny said. "One minute he's all 'we run this fuckin' city' and then he gets picked up by the cops and the next minute he's working for those assholes who destroyed the Row."

"I really want to know what was happening in those last few weeks," said Kate, frowning. "Things got insane and then suddenly it's all over. Well, for me."

"Actually it was kind of like that for all of us," said Johnny. "Well, those that didn't drop their flags at the first sign of trouble."

"There was no succession plan," said Kate. "Well, there was, but it didn't really go far enough. That's why things fell apart."

"No what?" Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know, who gets to be the leader if you lose your current leader, and everybody knows about it. You need, like, a proper plan instead of the last three assholes standing trying to figure out what's going on. Right now, if I die, it's going to you."

"Well, shit," he said. "Guess I have to make sure you don't die, then."

She grinned. "Well I'd appreciate it."

Johnny looked over her shoulder. "Looks like your boy wants to talk to you," he said. "I'll see you later. Call if you need anything. You know how it is."

She turned to see Carlos standing behind her, watching her with his large dark eyes.

"Hey," she said. "You need something?"

He looked at her, hesitantly, for a moment before answering. "Boss-" he began.

"Call me Kate," she said.

He took a deep breath, waiting until Johnny was out of earshot. "K-Kate," he said. "Can you- what am I supposed to be doing?"

"Oh!" her eyes widened. "Yeah. Sure. Okay, so. Three gangs in this city, as you'll know," she said "They're all going to have different areas of, you know, activities. Girls, drugs, cars, arms smuggling, money laundering, front companies, you know, that kind of shit. What I want you to do is do a little investigating. Find out what they're into, see what their game is. Suggest some ways of taking them down a notch or two. Find a way past their defences. See what I'm saying?"

"Yeah," said Carlos. "Think so."

She smiled. "Carlito," she said. "I don't expect you to just go to some neighbourhood and shoot everyone wearing red. Yeah, there's going to be trouble, but – I don't want you to put yourself in a position where you're going to get yourself killed, okay? Be careful. That's my number one rule."

He smiled back. "Okay. Kate." He paused. "Katie?"

"Oh, Carlito," she said. "Not yet. Maybe one day."

He looked away, with a grin. "Kate. I won't let you down."

* * *

True to his word, he was the first to call her after the meeting had ended and the new Saints dispersed.

"I got something for you," he said, proudly. "Maero wants to meet you. Down in the tunnels by the docks."

Kate froze where she was, phone held up to her ear. "Did you just go see him?" she asked, incredulously. "Ask him if he'd talk to me?"

"Yeah," he said, proudly. "That's right."

"Jesus fucking Christ," she said. "Well – shit. Alright."

Carlos met her at the entrance to the tunnels, a huge old building that now housed a gift shop. The words "Phantom Caves" were spelt out in gold above the entrance to the building. She could hear the waves crashing against the wharf, ships' horns sounding over the water.

"The fuck are we going?" she asked, following him into the building.

"It's a tourist attraction," he said.

She pushed her way past a group of old women gathered around a cheap sunglasses stand. "If it's so touristy, why are we meeting this guy here?" she asked. "You'd think he'd pick somewhere more isolated."

"Maybe he picked it because of that," said Carlos. "So you'd be less likely to start something."

Kate hesitated, turning towards him. "Yeah," she said. "That's not a bad theory."

They made their way down the metal steps and into the caverns themselves. Huge stalactites, worn smooth by years of water running over their surface, hung down from the cave roof overhead. Water poured down through holes in the rock.

It was still crowded, even once they'd dropped down a couple of levels. The air around them was damp, the chill of the rock encasing them sinking into their skin.

'How much further?" she asked, quietly, as they descended yet another flight of stairs.

"I, ah, don't know," said Carlos. "I'm not much of a tourist, you know? Haven't spent a lot of time down here."

Kate closed her eyes. "Alright," she said. "So we just walk around until – what, we-"

Carlos put a hand out to stop her.

Leaning against the stone wall up ahead was the biggest man she'd ever seen. His hair was a vibrant red, and his face was half-covered in a black and red tribal tattoo. He seemed to be alone. He stood up when he saw the two of them. Kate grimaced as she saw how big he was.

"Maero, I assume," said Kate, offering her hand to shake. Maero gripped it in a painfully tight squeeze. She gritted her teeth and forced a smile.

"And you've spoken to Carlos already, I take it," she continued, flexing her hand.

Maero shrugged. "This your crew these days?" he said, his voice a low rumble.

There was an insult in his tone, but she didn't take the bait. "Well, we had to filter out the police officers," she said, with a faint smile. She could feel Carlos' tension by her side.

Maero laughed. "I remember you. What you were. What you achieved. I think we could-"

"This way!"

There was a call from further up the trail. They all turned towards the sound of the voice.

"Police! Freeze!"

Kate reached for her gun, but Maero was already firing. She dashed after him, swearing under her breath. She paused behind a large stalagmite, then leaned out carefully and squeezed off two shots before ducking back into cover.

She heard Maero laugh. "Nice work," he said, before running off ahead.

Kate followed, but was panting by the time she'd climbed the third flight of stairs to the exit. Carlos was almost a flight ahead, but stopped when he noticed her leaning heavily on the rail for support.

"You okay, boss?" he said.

She gulped down air, willing her heart to stop pounding so hard. "The fuck did the police find us?" she gasped out. "We weren't followed. We weren't fucking followed."

"Anyone know you were coming?" asked Carlos.

She frowned, thinking about Troy. "No," she said, and then "no," again, more certainly.

"You think he called them?"

Her frown deepened. "That doesn't really make sense either," she said. "Fuck it. We need to catch up to him."

By the time they reached him again, Maero was in the gift shop, pinned down behind a rack of tshirts and stalagmite hats. Kate took a half-step out of cover and fired off her full clip, covering Carlos, who ran out behind her shooting, taking out the remaining officers.

"Not bad," said Maero. "For someone who's been in a coma. Follow me, we'll head back to our HQ."

They ran out the door.

The Brotherhood's hideout was at the docks – and wasn't much of a hideout to start with. Gang members wearing red were scattered around outside the warehouse, smoking, talking, leaning on their cars.

Kate smiled tightly but blankly at them as they passed, focusing on escape routes, who was packing, what she'd have to do if things turned bad-

"Donnie," said Maero, startling Kate out of her concentration. "You done with my truck yet?"

Kate's eyes widened as she looked down at the mechanic. Donnie caught her wide-eyed stare, and turned to look at her. He froze. He looked older – there were wrinkles around his eyes and his face was thinner, and his hair had a red tint instead of blue, but it was unmistakeable.

Maero frowned. "You two know each other?"

Kate hadn't seen Donnie since that last glimpse of him before the lid of the car trunk closed. "We've – met," she managed.

Donnie was still staring at her, his eyes wide and full of horror.

She could remember the sound of the waves slapping against the car as it slowly sank. Maybe he could too.

"It's – it's good to see you," she said. "Alive. I guess."

"Y-yeah," he stammered. "You too."

"Well wasn't that heartwarming," said Maero. "Come inside."

There was a skinny blond guy in the corner, strumming on a guitar. A red-headed girl greeted Maero with a kiss, then turned to the visitors.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Jessica."

The situation felt – disarmingly friendly. Like meeting an acquaintance's girlfriend. "Kate," she said in response. "Nice to meet you. This is Carlos."

Jessica's eyes slid to Carlos for a fraction of a second, then back to Kate. "You look familiar," she said.

Maero laughed. "That might be because she's been in the news lately."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "No," she said. "From – I don't know. Did you go to Stilwater University?"

"Not at any time in the past five years," said Kate.

"Huh," said Jessica. "I'll figure it out."

"If you two have finished getting acquainted," said Maero.

Jessica smiled brightly. "Sure," she said, and sat down in the corner.

"So," said Maero. "It makes sense to work together. I was thinking an 80/20 split, seeing as you're just getting started and we're going to be pulling most of the weight."

Kate narrowed her eyes. "That's a little lower than I was really looking for."

"As a show of goodwill," he said. "I'm willing to go up to 70/30. Seeing as you showed you can handle yourself."

Kate cast a glance back at Carlos. "Yeah," she said, slowly. "I feel like we might be better off going it alone."

Maero snorted. "Your choice," he said. "Good luck."

"Oh, it's not luck," said Kate, turning towards the door. Her tone was clipped. "I'm sure we'll be meeting again. But in the meantime-" she paused. "It might pay for you to understand that there is nothing you can possess that I cannot take away."

She walked out the door, Carlos close behind.

"Donnie," she said, loud enough for Maero to hear. "Come with me. Now."

Donnie looked up at her, alarmed. "What? No!"

She fixed him with an unsmiling stare. "I want to talk to you about Lin."

"L-lin?" he asked, quietly, almost breathlessly.

"That's right," she said. "This is a one-time offer. Come with me, now, or never find out what she wanted you to know."

Donnie stood up, shakily. "Okay," he said.

Kate smiled. "Bring your car," she said, cheerfully. "And follow us. We'll talk once we're back home."

Donnie left his tools where they were and stood up.


	21. Hole In The Earth

Kate sighed as she began to drive, glancing in the rear view mirror to check if Donnie was still following her.

"You know this guy?" asked Carlos.

"Yeah," said Kate. "While ago. He used to be in the Rollerz. We had a girl go in undercover, and – things went bad."

Carlos frowned. "If things went bad, why is he coming with us?"

"Well – partly because he might be able to help us with Maero," she said.

Carlos waited a moment, until it became evident she wasn't going to keep talking. "And what's the second part?"

She shifted uncomfortably in the seat. "I just feel bad for him," she said, defensively. "He's just – just kind of a weenie. I sound like I'm 10 years old but seriously, weenie is the only word that really describes him."

"So – you're adopting him?"

"No." She turned to glare at Carlos, but he was smiling at her cheekily and she couldn't hold the expression. "Well, okay, sort of. Christ. Now I sound like the weenie."

He laughed.

"Can you call Johnny?" she asked, wriggling her hand into her pocket and throwing her phone into his lap. "Put it on speaker."

The tinny ringtone rang once, twice, before Johnny picked up.

"Hey," he said. "How'd it go?"

"Not that well," she said. "Guy made a lowball offer – politely – but then I stole his mechanic."

"You – what?"

Kate rubbed her forehead with her fingers. "It – well, do you remember Donnie?"

"Who?"

"That guy from the Rollerz Lin was dating."

"Not really," he said. "He important?"

She sighed. "No."

"Then why the fuck are you bothering doing anything with him?" he asked, impatiently.

Kate hesitated for a second. "I kind of did it to piss off Maero," she said.

"Oh," he said. "Well, that's different. So, what does he do?"

"I don't know," she said. "Car shit. I guess we do cars now, I don't know."

"You gonna be driving any of these cars?" he asked. "Because if so, I'm out."

"Shut up," she said. "Anyway Donnie'll be coming back later, so don't like, shoot him or something. He's kind of half-assedly flying Brotherhood flags."

"Fine," said Johnny. "But he's going to have to be canonised."

"Christ. I'd forgotten about that. We'll see. Anyway, talk to you later."

"Yeah, whatever," he said, and hung up.

They pulled into the carpark behind the back of the Saints headquarters.

"Right," she said to Carlos. "I'm going to be taking Donnie on a trip, so, you know, don't wait up."

He frowned. "Are you going to be okay with him?" he asked. "On your own?"

She laughed. "With Donnie? Uh, yeah. I'll be fine."

"What are you going to do with him?" Carlos asked, cracking the car door open but not making any move to get out.

"Just take him on a trip," she said, watching as Donnie's car came to a stop behind them. "See you later."

She stepped out of the car and slowly walked over to Donnie's.

Donnie was sitting in the driver's seat, hands clenched in his lap and staring straight ahead. When Kate tapped on the window he jumped.

"You alright?" asked Kate.

"Y-yeah," he said. "I can't believe I just did that."

"Left the Brotherhood?" she asked. "Yeah, don't think Maero's going to be too happy. Oh well."

"Do you think he'll come after me?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Well you know him better than me," she said. She walked around to the other side of the car and opened the door.

Donnie looked over at her as she settled into the passenger seat. "What did you want to tell me about her?"

She sighed. "Did you ever come to the old church, Donnie?"

He shook his head.

Kate shrugged. "Guess you wouldn't have a reason to." She stared at the dashboard in front of her.  
"That's where we buried her. There wasn't much space left. We thought about just digging up someone else's grave but then she wouldn't have had a real headstone - it just got complicated." She shook her head, slowly.

Donnie was looking at her with wide eyes.

"So," she continued. "We got one made and buried her right at the edge of the grounds." She paused. "But - they moved the church."

"Ultor moved all the grave plots there to the cemetery," said Donnie quietly.

"Did they?" She was still looking at the dashboard. There was a cigarette burn on the plastic surface.

"Yeah."

She managed to tear her eyes away. "Guess we should go pay our respects, then."

Donnie's hands were clenched around the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white. "Are you going to kill me?"

"What?" Kate asked. "No. Unless you pull a gun on me or something."

"Okay," he said, and started the engine. "I miss her. You know."

She watched out the window as the streets slid smoothly past. "Yeah. I know."

"I didn't mean for things – to end up like that."

She snorted. "I could tell. You looked pretty upset in the few seconds between when the old guy opened the trunk and when he shot us both."

His hands gripped the wheel even tighter, and he didn't reply.

They drove through the cemetery gates and pulled into the parking area.

"Any idea where the graves will be?" she asked, getting out of the car.

He shook his head.

"Guess we have to search for them then."

She made her way to the nearest and bent to read the inscription.

Kenneth Schwarz, 1955-2003.

"That doesn't seem right," she said. "If the graves were moved all together they'd be in one place, right? And the church was older than this guy."

"I don't know," Donnie said quietly. "What does the headstone look like?"

"Says 'Lin' on it," she said, walking past rows of headstones. "Eighty – shit. Eighty-something to two-thousand-eight. And we put a fleur-de-lis on it. And a picture of her car. Christ, that sounds so crappy."

"She loved her car," said Donnie.

"Yeah," said Kate, bending to read another headstone.

Timothy McCarthy, 1895-1926.

"This is more like it," she said, following along the row. "Phillip Alexander, Lorcan Murphy, Nathaniel Albright-"

"Here," said Donny. He was standing in front of a headstone, looking down at it.

She walked over to him. "Yeah," she said. "Hey, Lin. It's been a while."

"I'm sorry," said Donnie, quietly. "I could have done something." He looked up at Kate. "I could have-"

She shook her head. "You could have," she said. "But you didn't. And I don't blame you for it. We could hear you through the trunk of the car, you didn't know what was going to happen. And even if you had – who knows what would have happened. Probably wouldn't have gone well for you."

"I could have joined the Saints," he said.

"Maybe," she said. "Things were different then. Might not have worked out. The old guy might have put you down himself and then told your steroid freak friend with the sunglasses that you'd betrayed all of the Rollerz."

Donnie was silent.

"And I got out of the trunk pretty soon after that. First thing I did was call for help, and then the police dive squad got sent out and –" She paused. "Oh, for fuck's sake, Troy sent me the fucking police. Jesus." She put a hand on her hip. "You ever realise something from ages ago and then think, 'how could I have been so stupid'?"

"Yes," Donnie said, abruptly.

She cast a sideways glance at him. "Yeah," she said. "Okay. Anyway. We got help not long after you left. Might not have even made much of a difference."

"But he shot you. I could have stopped-"

"It all happened pretty fast," she said. "I'm not trying to absolve you of guilt, or anything. But – I recognise the whole thing wasn't easy on you. You weren't really involved. And I took care of the old guy. Revenge is done, as far as I'm concerned."

"What'd you do to him?" he asked.

"All-out attack on the mansion to flush him out, and then a bullet in the head from a block and a half away," she said, proudly. "He didn't even hear it coming. Guy was an asshole. Especially to you, Christ."

He was silent for a moment. "How do you know so much about all this?" he asked.

"We did a lot of eavesdropping," she said. "Outside that big window in the lounge. For someone who's meant to be prepared for anything, old guy sure didn't give a shit about security. We were like right fucking there. There was like, me, and I think Johnny was there sometimes, and I usually had a couple of guys with me, so it's not like we were really there on the down-low."

Donnie crouched down next to the grave and traced his finger over Lin's name gently. "What was it that you wanted to tell me?" he asked.

Kate closed her eyes. "It was – we were in the trunk of the car," she said. "Just been shot. Lin was – was trying to get me to reach her lighter so we could burn the ropes enough to break them. And she said – that I shouldn't hurt you. That you were sweet."

She opened her eyes to see Donnie's eyes brimming with tears. She quickly looked away. "She liked you, Donnie. I think – if things had been different – you guys might have worked out."

The tears were streaming down Donnie's face.

"Jesus," she said. "Let's go. You can come back here whenever."

Donnie wasn't in any state to drive, so she pushed him gently into the passenger's seat and took the driver's. She stared at her hands as they held the wheel. She had a sudden flicker of familiarity. She'd been driving, and Troy had been sitting in the passenger seat –

"Do you smoke, Donnie?" she asked.

"No," he sniffled.

She turned to him. "Is this Lin's car?" she asked. "You've painted it red and stuck that Latin to the side, but is this Lin's actual car?"

He took a couple of deep breaths. "Yeah," he said. "Couldn't just leave it in the ocean. She wouldn't have wanted that."

"So you hauled it out and painted it another gang's colours. You think she'd like that any better? She died in this car! That's fucked up. You're lucky she isn't haunting you or something."

"Who says she isn't?" Donnie asked.

Kate didn't have a reply.


	22. Working For The Weekend

Kate was heading into the headquarters as Carlos was leaving. He had his head down, hands in his pockets as he walked.

"Carlito," said Kate.

He looked up.

"This is really annoying but I need a whole bunch of stuff done and I'm too busy to do it myself." She leaned against the wall next to him. "Now, you're one of my lieutenants so I shouldn't give you this kind of basic stuff, but I need someone with connections and I feel like you're a good bet. Feel free to delegate if you need to."

He nodded. "Anything you want."

"Okay, so," she continued. "We need a doctor who doesn't mind fishing out bullets and not asking questions. You're probably going to have to go with someone deregistered, so try and go with someone who got busted for sleeping with a patient rather than malpractice, know what I mean? We're going to need a friendly accountant, because tax evasion is how Al Capone went down and I want that shit covered. I need you to make friends with Donnie because I want to get everything he knows on the Brotherhood out of him. I think I'm going to need helicopter flying lessons so I want to get them teed up, and I need someone who does really high-quality fake IDs." She paused. "And also, could you get me a copy of Benjamin King's autobiography? I feel like I'm going to need to learn a lot of things fast."

"Uh, I think I got all that," he said. "What do you want me to do with Donnie?"

"I don't know. Go drink with him or something. But don't talk about Lin, even if he brings her up. Change the subject. Talk about cars or something. You know about cars?"

He shrugged a shoulder languidly. "Stealing them count?"

"Yeah, probably. Look-" She ran a hand through her hair. "Based on him being a huge weenie I think he grew up rich – just a guess – but I wanted to warn you in case he's just really irritating or something."

Carlos laughed. "I think I can handle that."

"You're amazing," said Kate. "Let me know how all that goes."

Carlos headed out the door as Kate began to descend the stairs.

"Oh, hey, I got something for ya," Pierce called out as she walked past a room in the crumbling underground hotel.

"Talk me through it," she said, leaning against the doorway.

"Nah, man, I made a model, you're going to need to come see it."

Kate smiled faintly. "Are you actually serious?"

"Yeah!" he said. "It's downstairs. Come on."

Pierce had built a full scale replica of the Poseidon casino in one of the rooms on the bottom level.

"Holy shit," said Kate, looking over the model.

Johnny entered the room behind her. "So what's this about?" he asked.

"Okay." Pierce leaned over the table. "Just listen, I got this all planned out. First thing –" he leaned over the display to drop two plastic figures at the front door. "You and me gotta distract the guard, who's gonna be here. I thought you could catch me cheating or something. While they're throwing me out, Johnny sneaks past this security door – got the password here – and -"

Kate tapped her fingers against the model carefully. "I don't know if we need two of us for that. Why don't you just show up drunk and once we're inside make a big a scene as possible? Seems like that would work just as well."

"O-okay," said Pierce, taken aback. "Okay. So, while they're distracted, Johnny cuts the power." He moved the figure representing Johnny over to the right side of the model floor. "After that we have 45 seconds before the backup-"

"Are you fuckin' serious?" asked Johnny. "I'm exhausted even listening to you. How about this: we show up at the front door, kill everyone, then take the money."

"Sounds like it'd take less time," said Kate, slowly. "But – I kind of want to see where this plan is going. It sounds fun."

Johnny rolled his eyes.

"So!" continued Pierce, enthusiastically. "The power's cut, all doors are unlocked, we run into the vault and take everything, then get the fuck out of there."

Kate frowned. "Are we going to be able to see?"

Pierce paused, his excitement fading. "Do we have any night-vision goggles?"

"Fuck do you think?" Kate sighed. "We can't afford that shit. What about torches? Could probably spring for that."

"They'll make us great fucking targets in the dark," said Johnny.

"Wait," said Pierce. "I got this. What's the first thing everyone does in the dark when they can't see? They pull out their phones. Everyone'll be doing it."

"So we're going to be robbing a casino by phone-light," said Johnny. "Real fucking high tech. Why don't we just take some fucking candles with us?"

"Nah, let's try it," said Kate. "I feel like taking a chance on this. Besides, if things go wrong, we're still shooting our way out."

Johnny shrugged. "Whatever you say."

"Okay," said Kate. "And no purple. We are strictly anonymous."

"What?" asked Johnny. "Then how are they going to know it's us?"

"They don't," said Kate. "That's the point. It's just kind of a test exercise. Get them on guard but don't give them a target to hit back at. See what they do. Know what I'm saying?"

"The hell does that accomplish?" asked Johnny.

"Gets us some cash," said Kate. "Makes them mad. No repercussions for us. See what I'm saying?"

Johnny waved a hand dismissively. "Okay," he said. "Fine. Whatever."

They parked a block down from the casino.

"Are everyone's watches synchronised?" asked Pierce, from the back seat.

"Jesus Christ," said Kate.

"This is fucking ridiculous," said Johnny.

"Let's just go with it," said Kate. "So, how are you meant to cut the power?"

"There's should be a panel just inside the security entrance," said Pierce. "Just fuck that shit up. Cut everything."

"Yeah, I can do that," said Johnny.

"Okay, so like, give us twenty minutes," said Kate. "We'll get a couple of drinks. See if we get any attention. I'll head towards the back after about fifteen minutes, Pierce is going to make a scene, and when you cut the power I'll start the timer, run in, grab as much cash as we can, and head out the security door again. How's that sound?"

"Complicated," said Johnny. "But it's fine. See you in twenty or so."

Pierce and Kate got out of the car, and watched Johnny drive around the corner.

"Okay," said Pierce. "You codename is bl-"

"No way," said Kate. "Seriously, no."

"Why?" Pierce looked hurt.

"Because," said Kate. "Johnny's right, you are actually making this way too complicated. Now, come on, let's get some drinks."

The foyer of Poseidon's Palace was dominated by a huge sculpture of tangled blue and yellow fluorescent lights, with a waterfall pouring down from the ceiling above. As Kate looked up at it, she could see fish swimming in the glass ceiling overhead.

There were banks of poker and blackjack machines in the middle of the floor, and dealers standing by card and roulette tables. The room was decorated with tentacles dotted with lightbulbs.

She took a quick glance around. No one seemed to be wearing yellow.

"Where's the bar?" she asked Pierce.

"Think it's out back," he said.

"Shit," she said. "Really? I don't want to get too far away. Okay, let's grab a couple and head back in."

They headed up the stairs, and then outside onto a wooden walkway, burning torches lining it on either side. There was a pool below them, with a covered platform hanging over the edge, where girls in black were serving drinks.

"Come on," she said. "I haven't had a drink for like five years or something." She started down the stairs. Pierce followed her, his eyes fixed on his watch.

Kate ordered one cocktail, and then another. "You've gotta be drinking too," she hissed at Pierce. "It's part of your – thing. Backstory."

"Are you drunk already?" he asked. "Seriously?"

"I told you already," she snapped. "They don't give you drinks when you're in a coma. So I've been sober – wait, I had some coke the other day. Have you met Luz? I like her."

He stared at her. "What? No. And I'm thinking you might have to be the drunk one now."

"No!" she said, firmly. "It's your plan. We can't change it."

"We already-" he began.

"Also I hate making a scene," she moaned. "I don't like everyone looking at me."

"They're looking at you now," he said. "Okay, we're going back inside. You're going to sit quietly at a slot machine until Johnny gets here."

He shepherded her back inside and settled her in front of a machine near the vault at the back of the room. She pulled the arm dutifully.

"No," said Pierce. "You've gotta put money in it – look, never mind. Just sit here, show's about to start. Just have your phone ready."

He walked off. She heard him start swearing at one of the machines, and then a loud bang as he punched it. "The fuck are you looking at?" he yelled at a dealer.

The guards on the door took a look at each other, then began to walk towards him. She smiled.

"I am not leaving!" he yelled. "This machine is fuckin' rigged."

The room went suddenly, completely black. There were a chorus of screams from around the floor.

"Can we have calm, please?" called out a voice. "We'll have power back shortly."

Pierce grabbed her arm. "Come on," he hissed. "We don't have much time."

He pulled her along and held the vault door open for her and Johnny to walk through. "You go left," he said to Kate, handing her a bag. "And you go right. Grab as much cash as you can."

Kate stumbled into the room, holding her phone in front of her. There was a safe set into the wall, but it must have been electronically locked, because it was hanging open. She unzipped the bag, dropped it on the floor, and started shoving cash into it with her free hand.

"And, time!" Pierce hissed. "Come on, we're heading out the side door."

Kate grabbed the bag and ran after him, dodging around tables and customers and dealers. When Pierce pushed the door open she threw a hand up to her face to shield her eyes from the blinding light. There was a car waiting for the three of them, and she dived in through the open door. The tyres squealed as it sped off into the traffic.

"Holy shit," said Pierce. "We did it."

Johnny shook his head. "Guess we did. Still way too fucking complicated."

"Where are we taking this?" asked the driver. It was one of their new recruits.

"Let's take it to my place," said Johnny. "It's close by. And It'll be safe there until we can clean it up a little."

"Your lady's gonna be pissed," said Kate. "Still-" she glanced back behind her. "Doesn't look like we were followed. Probably going to be okay."

Police cars, sirens on and lights flashing, sped past them in the opposite direction. Kate laughed, a little incredulously. "We actually did it."

"Course we did." Pierce sat back in his seat, lowering sunglasses over his eyes.

Just as they pulled into Johnny's driveway, Kate's phone rang. She glanced down at the caller ID and her eyes widened. She was out of the car almost before it had come to a halt.

"Just gotta take this," she called back, as she walked quickly down the street.

Once she was out of earshot, she took the call. "Hey," she said, uneasily.

"Hey," said Troy, his tone hard. "You wouldn't have had anything to do with all the commotion down by the waterfront, would you?"

"Why would you think that?" she asked, a little breathlessly. "Officer?"

There was a slight pause. "I'm not an officer."

"Oh," she said. "Chief?"

He sighed. "Well – we have this great shot of Gat coming in through the employee-only security door on surveillance footage," he said. "While you and some other guy are out by the pool. And I asked myself – could this really be a coincidence?"

She winced. "Shit."

"Shit is right, because that's what you're gonna be in if Ultor – hold on." She heard muffled voices in the background. "Yeah, Jane, I'll be with you in a second," she heard him say. "Thanks." The next time he spoke, his voice was lower. "Katie, we got to the security tapes first this time, but that was luck. Next time we might not. Cover your fuckin' tracks better if you're messing with Ultor."

The phone went dead in her hand. Up the road, Pierce was waving from Johnny's doorway. "Come watch the news!" he yelled. She hurried up the road toward him.

Kate blinked at the TV screen. Jane Valderamma was standing just outside the casino they'd just robbed.

"At this stage, police appear to have no leads," she said.

The camera panned to Troy. Kate couldn't hold back a quiet gasp.

"It's early days yet, Jane," he said. "I'll be handling this one myself."

"Is that because of the interest from Ultor in this case?" asked Jane.

"Sure," Troy replied.

"One more question, please – there have been suggestions this was gang-related. Could you comment on that?"

"There's nothing at this stage to indicate that might be the case," he said. "Thanks, Jane."

"That was Troy Bradshaw, Chief of Police. And now, back to the studio."

"Holy shit," said Pierce. "We actually did it."

"Yeah," she said. "Guess we did."


	23. Cheer It On

"Hey, Kate, got you a present."

Kate looked up from the book she was reading. She was lying on a couch next to the fire in the Saints headquarters. Shaundi was walking down the stairs gracefully. She tapped a lightbulb gently against the marble handrail, shattering it.

Kate raised an eyebrow . "Is my present getting blinded by a sharp object?" she asked. "Because I can kind of do without that, not to sound ungrateful."

Shaundi laughed. "No! This is Loa dust. It's the Sons of Samedi's primary income source." She held a lighter to the broken bulb and lowered it to Kate's face.

Kate shrugged, leaned over, and inhaled gently, closing her eyes. "Mm," she said, smiling. "Buzzy." She stretched languorously out on the couch. "So what's the plan?"

"We pick up a whole lot more of it." Shaundi sat down at the end of the couch by her feet. "Their biggest market is university students, so I was thinking we could head over, grab - say, three pounds, and try to work out what's in it so we can make it ourselves."

"Do we really need that much for testing?" asked Kate, lifting her feet to rest them on Shaundi's legs. "That seems quite a lot."

"It's an intensely scientific and mystical process," said Shaundi. "I need to commune with it. This may take a long time and maybe also a lot of it."

Kate laughed. "Sure thing," she said. "Whatever. I'll send a couple of our guys around to go liberate some."

She sent a quick text message, and then gestured for Shaundi to bring her the lightbulb. Instead of getting up, Shaundi climbed over her, sliding a knee into the couch cushions by Kate's hip, the other leg resting between Kate's thighs. Shaundi lowered herself down to hold the lightbulb and a lighter under Kate's face. She breathed in the fumes, eyes half-closed.

"Don't mind me," said Johnny, walking down the stairs. "You can keep going. Just pretend I'm not even here."

"Johnny!" Kate called out, happily. "Do you want some drugs?"

"When have I ever said no to that question?" Johnny asked.

"You know, there's room on the couch for one more," said Shaundi, throatily.

"I don't know if you girls can handle that," he said with a grin, walking towards them.

Shaundi pushed herself up to her knees, still straddling Kate, and lifted the lightbulb up to him.

He breathed in deeply. "What's in this shit?" he asked.

"Nobody knows," said Kate, in a mock-spooky voice.

"We're working on that," said Shaundi.

"Yeah, looks like you're working hard," he said.

"What are you down here for anyway?" asked Kate. "Just hanging out?"

"Well no," he said. "See, I've got a quarter mill sitting on my coffee table and nothing to do with it."

"Ooh," said Shaundi. "Let's buy shoes! Or, or – more drugs."

"Oh my god." Kate sat up, knocking Shaundi backwards. "Oh my fucking god. I know this one girl that sells both."

"There is no way we're spending all of that money on shoes for you two," said Johnny, folding his arms. "This money is for laundering, not spending."

"No no no no no," said Kate. "We buy her coke, the money goes back to Colombia, we get in good with the Colombians, and end up with a whole lot of product to re-sell, and we get paid in low-denomination bills."

"Goddamn," said Johnny. "That might just work."

"Oh," said Shaundi. "No shoes?"

"Maybe some shoes," Kate said. "I'll ring her." She wriggled her phone out of her pocket and dialled.

"Hello?" Luz sounded bored.

"I want to buy a whole lot of coke," said Kate.

There was a pause. "Is your phone being tapped right now?" asked Luz.

"I don't know?" said Kate. "Police have better things to do than listen to this, though."

She sighed, pointedly. "Fine. What kind of money are we talking?"

"Two-fifty K?"

Another pause. "Okay," said Luz, finally. "I can set something up. Come to my shop after work." She hung up without saying goodbye.

"There," said Kate. "Problem solved. You're welcome." She picked her book back up off the floor.

"You're cocky when you're high," said Johnny, sitting down on the arm of the couch.

"You're cocky literally all of the time," Kate said, without looking up.

"There's a very good reason for that," he said, with a grin. "You see, I-"

"Stop it!" said Kate, mock-seriously, looking up at his face above her. "If this is gonna be a dick joke, I don't want to hear it."

She could see his eyes widen behind his glasses. "But – what?"

"I am so sick of you always talking about your dick," said Kate.

"What?" asked Johnny. "I do not."

"No, seriously," said Kate. "Literally the first thing you ever said to me was about how you have this massive dick."

"Really?" asked Johnny, grinning. "I mean, it's true. Don't remember saying it though."

Kate laughed. "Yes! I just remember thinking to myself at the time, what in the hell have I gotten myself into?"

He turned to Shaundi, who was sitting on Kate's feet at the other end of the couch. "Come on. Really?"

"You kinda do," she said. "You know, you keep talking about it all the time – girl's gonna get curious." She raised an eyebrow playfully.

Kate snorted with laughter. "She's right," she said. "Time to put up or shut up."

"Aggressive," said Johnny. "I like it."

"Hey," said Kate. "Hey hey hey. I'm in this book."

"You can not handle your drugs," said Johnny.

"No, you're in it too!" she said.

"Am I in it?" asked Shaundi.

"No," said Kate, sombrely. "I'm sorry."

"The fuck?" Johnny pulled the book out of her hands. "Oh, yeah. Regicide. Course you'd be in this."

"Oh, the Benjamin King autobiography?" asked Shaundi. "What'd he say about you?"

"That when it comes down to it I got my shit together," she replied. "But I'm kind of flaky. And that Johnny's a psychopath but other than that a pretty cool guy, which is true. King's a tough motherfucker, though. He used to – to know Julius."

"What's the deal with this Julius guy, anyway?" Shaundi asked. "It's like some big mystery and no one wants to talk about it. And by no one I pretty much just mean you two."

Kate looked up at Johnny. "Well-" she began, with a frown. "We don't – we never really worked out what happened with him."

"He used to be the boss," said Johnny. "He gets kidnapped or some shit by the cops, a lot of shit goes down, and then no one hears from him ever again."

"Except apparently he's still around and trying to distance himself from his gang past and working for Ultor," added Kate. "We don't know what the deal is, Shaundi."

"Maybe we should pay him a visit sometime," suggested Johnny.

"If we can ever figure out where he is or what he does," said Kate, glumly. "I don't like our odds in a city this size."

"Someone's gotta know something," said Johnny.

"Guess so." Kate shrugged. "I'll ask around. Probably can't really walk straight into Ultor reception and ask to talk to him."

"You might be more convincing if you asked to talk to him while holding a gun," said Johnny. "I think that's where you're going wrong."

"Your plans are really direct," said Kate. "And sometimes I like that."

"But not always," he said.

"Management styles," she said, seriously. "That's why I'm reading this book, anyway." She made a grab for it, but he lifted it just out of her reach.

"Ugh. Whatever." She sat up a little. "Hey Shaundi, got any more Loa Dust?"

"Sure do," said Shaundi, brandishing the lightbulb.

"Testing drugs is fun," said Kate, as she leaned in towards her.


	24. I Got It (What You Need)

Kate's phone was ringing. She pulled over to the side of the road, and picked it up off the passenger seat where she'd thrown it. She checked the caller ID, and smiled. "Carlito," she said. "What have you got for me?"

"You don't say that right," he said. "You know."

"What?" she asked. "How do I not say it right?"

"You – put too much on the 'C' at the beginning. And you kinda skim over the 'r'. And your 'o' at the end is too – American."

"Well – how am I meant to say, it, then?" She frowned.

"Like – Carlito."

"Carlito," she tried again.

"Closer," he said. "Carlito."

"Carlito."

"Carlito."

"Carlito?"

"Almost. Carlito."

"Oh my god," said Kate, closing her eyes. "Did you actually ring me to have this conversation?"

"Oh yeah," he said, lightly. "I got some things for you. Where are you?"

"Heading back to HQ," she said.

"See you there in fifteen," he replied, and hung up.

His car was already in the parking lot outside when she pulled up. She left the bright sunshine of the day outside and jogged down the stairs inside. She reached the main room, passing the battered stone sculpture, and then froze. Someone had replaced the tattered old couches with new ones. They looked cheap, but clean. Instead of a fire in the centre of the room, there was a coffee table, and electric lights had been rigged up around the room. Most of the loose rubble had been cleared out of the corners. She stared.

Carlos was sitting on one of the new couches. He turned as he heard her footsteps stop on the marble stairs.

"Hey," he said. "What do you think?"

"It looks – nice," she said, walking down towards him. "Who's been organising this?"

"Mostly me and Pierce," he said. "Shaundi gets distracted too easily."

Kate grinned, and sat down on the couch opposite Carlos. She put her feet up on the table. "So what you got?" she asked. "How's things with Donnie going?"

Carlos leaned forward. "He's nervous."

Kate shrugged. "Makes sense. Manage to get anything out of him?"

"There's some kind of shipment coming in," said Carlos. "I think he mentioned it by accident, because after that he shut right up."

"What could that be a shipment of?" Kate asked, curiously. "Cars? Probably not drugs."

"I'll keep working on it," said Carlos.

"I'd like to make a move on the Brotherhood sometime in the next couple of weeks," said Kate. "Poke the bear a little. See what we get back. Any ideas?"

He looked at her, his eyes intense. "I was thinking since Donnie's good with cars, we might be able to get him to rig some up to explode."

"Nice," said Kate, grinning. "Would he go for that?"

"Maybe. If he feels safe."

Kate crossed her legs. "I want your opinion on something to do with Donnie," she said. "Do you think we need to canonise him? I'm worried about his integration here."

Carlos shrugged. "I didn't get canonised," he said. "People like me okay."

"You were here before pretty much all of them though," she replied. "It's different. I think it might help with the others trusting him. Get him to fit in a little better. He doesn't still have that red streak in his hair, does he?"

Carlos shook his head. "He won't like it."

"He sure won't," agreed Kate, tapping her fingertips together. "I'll talk to him about it. It's not like we're going to jump him in an alleyway or something, it's like – organised."

"I also got you these," said Carlos, handing her an envelope.

She reached into the envelope and pulled out a stack of documents. Birth certificate. Social security card. A drivers licence. "God damn," she said. "This is some quality work."

"It's not going to stand up to a police background check or anything," said Carlos. "But, you know. They look legit."

"They really do," she said. "They're great." She stood up. "I'm going to take these over now."

She took a step towards the stairs back outside, but paused and turned back. "Let me know when you get that car bomb thing set up, okay?" she asked. "I'll ride along on that one."

She ran back up the stairs to her car.

Misty Lane was serene in the warm afternoon sunlight, the lawns uniformly clipped short and fences painted white. Johnny's car wasn't in the driveway. Kate parked next to the sidewalk in front of the house, picked up the envelope, and got out of the car. The slam of her car door was startlingly loud in the quiet neighbourhood.

Aisha answered the knock on her door. A flicker of confusion passed over her face. "Hey, Kate," she said. "Look, Johnny's not here right now."

"Yeah, that's fine," said Kate. "I came over to give you this." She handed the envelope to Aisha.

The confusion on Aisha's face deepened, and she opened the envelope, still watching Kate closely. She glanced down. Her eyes widened. "Kate!" she said. "How did – how did you even-" She ushered Kate in and closed the door behind her.

Kate grinned. "Johnny lent me a recent-ish picture," she said. "I couldn't set you up with a bank account in this name without you coming in with me, but I figured you don't really need one. Hope this'll make it easier for you to get out more often. I'd hate to be just cooped up in a house all day, even if it is a nice one."

"Yeah," said Aisha, absently, flipping through the cards. "It just means I have to rely on Johnny for a lot of things, and you know what he's like."

Kate laughed.

"Look, can I get you anything to-" Aisha began, but was cut off as the front door crashed open. Johnny was dragging a bleeding Ronin with one hand.

"What the hell, Johnny?" she asked.

"Found this guy snooping around," he said.

"For fuck's sake, Gat," snapped Kate. "Don't bring guys back to your fucking house. It's not safe. This is what we have the HQ for. Now we have to kill him."

The Ronin twisted in Johnny's grasp, trying to escape, but Johnny shoved him face-first into the glass table, shattering it.

"I just bought that," said Aisha. "And you're getting blood everywhere. You know how hard it is to get blood out of white carpet?"

"The amount of PMS in this room is seriously overwhelming," he said. "This guy was waiting for me when I left the store." He kicked the Ronin in the ribs, hard. "Got anything to tell us?"

"I have nothing to say to you," hissed the Ronin.

Kate groaned. "Oh, great, a reluctant one. Aisha, do you have any plastic sheets or anything? This could get really messy."

The Ronin began to struggle, but Johnny grabbed a fistful of his hair and smashed his face into the metal frame of the table. He spat out blood. "You can't make me talk," he slurred.

Johnny lifted his head up again.

"Try to get him more in the forehead this time," said Kate, folding her arms. "Less in the mouth. We need him to be able to say things." She winced slightly as the Ronin's head clanged as it once again met with the table.

"L-looking for you," he slurred. "And her. Looking for – for-"

"Me?" asked Kate. "What for?"

The Ronin lay, unmoving, where Johnny had dropped him.

"Ugh," said Kate. "Fuck. Okay. You take care of th-"

Johnny reached out and put a bullet neatly through the Ronin's skull.

Kate narrowed her eyes briefly. "Alright, fine. Kind of a mystery, but – concerning. I'll get hold of Pierce, and you-"

"You clean this shit up right now," said Aisha, holding out a mop and bucket. Johnny shrugged and took them from her.

"And if you ever make another PMS joke about me ever again I'm going to shoot out your other kneecap," said Kate. "Fuck you. See you later."

She heard him laugh as the front door closed behind her.

She got back behind the wheel of her car, and dialled Pierce before turning the phone onto speaker mode and pulling out into the street.

"Sup?" asked Pierce.

"Something's up with the Ronin," she said. "Don't know what. The guy said something about looking for us? He was pretty out of it, though."

"What?" said Piece. "What guy? Looking for who?"

"Random gang member," said Kate. "Some guy. I don't know. Anyway I want to step up shit with the Ronin. Get me some of their financial interests to fuck with, front businesses, anything. I want to hit them in the pocket."

"On it," said Pierce. "Let me check in with you tomorrow on that."

"Nice. Talk to you then."

She drove home, uneasily. Her eyes kept flicking towards the rear vision mirror, hunting for flickers of yellow.

She sighed as she stared at the shitty basement apartment, before reluctantly slouching down the steps. Just as she was unlocking the door, her phone rang again. She pushed inside, closed the door behind her, and fished it out of her pocket. And stared.

She hit the answer button, and slowly raised it to her ear.

"Troy," she said, curiously. "What can I do for you?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. She sat down on the corner of her bed, flicked on the TV, and turned the volume right down.

"Everything okay?" she asked, slowly, after nothing seemed to be forthcoming. "You're not in some kind of trouble, are you?"

"No," said Troy, at last. "I just – look. They tap you for undercover pretty soon after police academy. I had this friend there, right, and – and we ended up on the same undercover training course, too."

There was another long pause. She frowned. "What happened?" she asked, gently.

"He was – killed in the line of duty," said Troy. "Trial for his killer ended today. Not guilty on the basis that he was defending his home from unknown assailants."

Kate smiled, slowly. "Send me a photo," she said. "Send me an address. Known associates, regular hangouts. Stuff like that."

"Kate-" he began, but she cut him off.

"Shh. It's okay. Don't think about it anymore." She paused for a moment. "I gotta go. See you later, Troy."

She hung up before he could reply.


	25. The Reflex

Kate checked the address for the third time in the darkness of her car. She was right down the bottom of the suburbs district, bordering on Filmore. There were three apartment buildings crammed in next to each other, the beige paint peeling away in sheets from the old weatherboard. The car park was strewn with rubbish, and in the corner of it there was a rusty car up on blocks, glinting dully in the bright moonlight.

She looked up at the apartment complex again. There were sets of stairs on each side, and three open-air floors bridging between them at every second level. She slid her phone into her pocket and cracked open the door, listening. She could hear cars driving past, the tinny crackle of a nearby Forgive and Forget, a police siren in the distance.

She got out of the car, adjusting the gun tucked into the back of her waistband, heading for the nearest building. The car park was dark and deserted, lit only by the soft glow shining through the apartment windows above.

The rubber soles of her shoes were quiet as she began to climb the stairs up to the third floor. As she reached the landing, she paused. She could smell something chemical, harsh and acrid.

She approached the door carefully and knocked on it, sliding the gun out of her waistband and holding it just behind her. She could see the shape of someone moving inside through the glass pane next to the door.

"Who is it?" called a muffled voice.

She narrowed her eyes. "Hey," she called out. "I'm looking for Michael Stewart."

There was a long pause. "Who is it?" she heard again, more wary this time. The tiny peephole of light set into the door at eye level went dark.

"Look," she said, stepping towards the door. "I can't give you my name out here, it's not safe. I need to talk to you."

The door opened a fraction, the security chain stretching across the gap. A man cautiously peered out at her, with suspicious eyes and some kind of breathing mask on an elastic band around his neck. It was him.

"What do you want?" he asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

She lifted her gun wordlessly and fired two bullets into his face. As he fell back, Kate reached over to smash the window next to the door with the butt of her gun. She reached a hand in through the broken glass, feeling around for the chain on the inside of the door, and unhooked it. She took a quick glance behind her – even though she'd made a decent amount of noise, no one had opened their doors – and stepped inside.

She was almost knocked back by the chemical smell. Wrinkling her nose, she looked around the small apartment. One table was taken up by large glass jars, some encrusted with powder and some containing a dark red liquid, linked with rubber tubing. She paused for a moment, before reaching down to the dead man she was standing over and rifling through his pockets until she found his wallet. She shoved it into the back pocket of her shorts and made a half-hearted attempt at searching the rest of the room; opening drawers and tipping their contents onto the floor; pulling furniture out to check behind it; opening the cupboards in the tiny kitchen; and even hooking her fingers through a metal grid attached to a ventilation shaft and tugging.

It gave way, and she stumbled back, off-balance. Just inside the vent were two neat stacks of cash, bound with a rubber band. She grabbed both and backed out of the apartment quickly, locking the door behind her.

She ran down the steps and hurried to her car.

"Need a better fucking story next time," she muttered, as she turned the key in the ignition.

She turned the radio up as she drove over the bridge. She followed the road along the waterfront, and parked just outside the local Tee'N'Ay, where Shaundi was waiting for her.

Shaundi stood up when she saw Kate. She'd been sitting under a bench by the water, watching the moonlight ripple on the sea.

"Hey," she said, as Kate got closer.

"Hey," Kate replied. "This is nice. Romantic."

Shaundi laughed, but then recoiled. "Shit, you smell like a meth lab."

"Yeah, I've just been-" Kate waved a hand. "At a meth lab."

"Have any meth?"

Kate sat down on the bench next to her. "No, just ended up with cash on this trip."

Shaundi shrugged. "Least you got something."

"So what are we doing here, anyway?" asked Kate.

Shaundi sat forward. "Okay. So I haven't been able to figure out what's in Loa dust yet, right, but I know someone who can."

Kate glanced back at the Tee'N'Ay behind them.

"Nope," said Shaundi. "It's going to be a little harder to get to our expert, unfortunately. See, I met her in prison – and she's still in prison."

Kate blinked at her. "Do you have some idea about what we're going to do about that?"

"Yeah! All you have to do is bomb the prison generator, find her cell, and then escape with her." Shaundi raised a hand and waved at a Saint close by.

The Saint ran towards them, carrying something close to his body. Kate's eyes widened as he tripped on the curb. He lost his grip on the small, grey box in his hands, sending it skidding across the concrete towards them. It stopped just short of her feet.

After a moment, Shaundi let out a long breath.

Kate looked up at the man who'd been carrying it. He was standing with his hands clasped tensely, frozen, a forced smile pasted onto his face. "Is that going to explode?" she asked, in disbelief.

"It's, uh, probably not too stable right now," he admitted cautiously. "So the quicker you get there, the better."

"Okay," said Kate, holding both her hands up in front of her. "I'm totally not doing this. So you-" she pointed at the Saint standing in front of them. "Take this bomb and get rid of it. Deactivate it if possible, I guess, or drive it out into the harbour and drop it in the water. But seriously, holy shit, I am not staging a prison riot."

The Saint scooped up the box hurriedly, and carried it carefully away.

Shaundi was staring at the ground between her feet. "Sorry," she said, quietly.

Kate shook her head. "It's alright," she said, touching Shaundi's shoulder. "I'll give Legal Lee a call and see if we can get an appeal and then see if we can snatch her from the court house or something like that. If that doesn't work we can reconsider this bomb idea. Just – try and think of easy ways to do stuff before jumping straight to the hard ways, okay?"

"Yeah," said Shaundi, half-heartedly. "I just like – I like thinking up stuff like this."

"Still keep thinking it up," said Kate. "But just, like, warn me before it's bomb time."

Shaundi sighed. "It wasn't meant to be bomb time yet. And it seemed like it was going to be so exciting."

Kate tilted her head to one side. "Do you actually want to do it?" she asked. "I mean, shit, if you're keen to do this we could get that guy back-"

"No," said Shaundi quickly. "That's okay."

"Okay," said Kate. "No big deal then. I'll tell you what happens with Lee. What's her name?"

"Oh, Laura… something."

"What was she in for?"

"Dealing." Shaundi shook her head. "She wasn't too subtle, apparently. I feel so bad for her, her marriage fell apart when she got arrested, and her kids never came to visit her or anything. But she was so – I don't know, peppy all the time. And it's not like they hand out valium in the pen, so it was just her."

"Sounds nice," said Kate, turning away. "Look, I'll-"

"Oh yeah," said Shaundi. "I think she said she knows you."

Kate turned back. "What? How?"

"I think she said you did some work for her, back in the day?" Shaundi tilted her head to one side.

Kate narrowed her eyes. "What does she look like?"

"Oh, she's probably late forties, she's got that haircut that every woman in their forties somehow end up with. She's um, suburby. She likes you. Said you're a good shot."

"No way," said Kate. "No fucking way." She covered her mouth with a hand. "Oh, no, that's totally my fault, we attracted way too much attention doing that shit."

Shaundi shrugged. "She doesn't seem mad about it."

"Well, shit, now we have to get her out."

"D-do you want the bomb back?" Shaundi asked tentatively.

"Still no," said Kate. "Look, I'll figure something out."

She felt her phone in her pocket vibrate, and grasped for it desperately before Shaundi could recognise the ringtone.

"Hey," said Pierce. "Look, I got something for you. Looks like a huge group of Ronin up by the amphitheatre by the museum. If you hurry you might be able to make it."

"What are they doing?" asked Kate. She waved at Shaundi and beganto walk towards her car. "Just like, hanging out? Having a meeting?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say some kind of deal is going down. If you go yourself, you might want to take a McManus along. They're pretty heavily armed."

"Ooh, McManus," Kate said, her eyes widening. "Okay, I'm sold. You keeping an eye on the situation?"

"Course I am."

"I might take Johnny along," she continued. "You know how he gets when he doesn't get taken for regular walks."

"What?"

"Never mind," said Kate. "Sounds good. See you later."

She hung up, and immediately began redialling.

Johnny answered on the second ring. "What's up?" he asked.

"That was quick," she said. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing," he said. "Shit, Eesh isn't even here. She's barely been home since you got her that goddamn ID."

"Aww," said Kate. "Are you lonely?"

"Fuck off," said Johnny. "Bored, maybe."

Kate smiled. "I might be able to help with that," she said. "Meet me by the Friendly Fire closest to Amberbrook. I'm going to snipe some Ronin and I need you to keep reinforcements off my ass."

"Fuckin' sold," said Johnny. "Be there in ten."

The McManus was cool and heavy in her hands. She ran her fingers over the brushed steel reverently.

"Do you need a minute alone with that?" asked Johnny.

Kate grinned. "Shut up," she said. "I've seen the way you look at rocket launchers."

"I didn't say it was a bad thing," said Johnny. "Just, you know, make sure it's not loaded if you're going to stick it-"

"Oh my god," said Kate, laughing. "Shut up. Don't even – just don't." She turned to the cashier. "Yes, we'll take it. Thanks."

She picked out the deserted rooftop of a parking building to set up her rifle. She fixed it carefully in place with the tripod and lay down to look through the lens. It wasn't a great angle, but it was good enough.

"Do I get to do anything anytime soon?" asked Johnny.

"Give it a couple minutes," said Kate, looking up from the scope. "They'll figure out where we are soon enough." She sent a quick text message to Pierce to let him know they were set up and returned back to the scope.

Yellow cars were parked by the roadside on the grass verge next to the amphitheatre. Ronin gathered around the steps, visible around the crumbling white pillars. They seemed to be heading down towards the lowest level. One of them had a rocket launcher.

Kate smiled, tracking him through the scope. When he paused for a moment, she squeezed the trigger. She watched the Ronin react, turn towards the target in horror. Before they could move, she'd targeted another one. It wasn't until the third had fallen that they began to scramble for cover.

She watched one of them point towards her location, waving his arm. She slid the barrel of the rifle towards him and fired, sending him flying backwards into a pillar. He slid down against it, leaving a red smear.

She could hear Johnny shifting restlessly behind her. "Am I actually going to be doing anything here?" he asked. "Or did you just want to hang out?"

"They're on their way," said Kate. "Couple minutes." She scanned the amphitheatre. Most of the Ronin had taken cover, but there were still those that weren't sure where the shots were coming from.

She could hear squealing tyres in the parking garage below.

"You ready?" she asked.

"Always," said Johnny.

She heard gunshots behind her, but didn't turn around as she continued picking Ronin off. She watched them through the scope. They were running, now, back to their cars.

She was suddenly wrenched sideways, grabbed by her collar, almost choking. She looked up at Johnny, glaring incredulously, but a yellow motorbike hit the spot where she'd been lying, its rider flipping over the edge of the building. There was a car sitting just down the ramp to the lower levels, with bodies lying half out of it.

"I got ya," he said. "Don't worry."

She looked again through her scope. There weren't many more Ronin in sight, but she knew there were more hiding. "I think we're going to need to get closer," she said.

"More action? Sounds good," he said. "I'm driving, by the way."

She sat balefully in the passenger seat as they drove the Ronin's car towards the amphitheatre.

"Hey, what?" said Katie, as they passed a banner advertising the museum. "Eromenos museum? Gross."

"What?" asked Johnny. "What's gross about that?"

"Oh," she said. "I guess cultural relativism and all that, but it's still gross."

"What in the fuck are you talking about?"

"Well, an eromenos is kind of like – okay, well, in ancient Greece where like, an older man would pick out a younger man, who was usually a young-ish teenager, to be his lover, who gets called the eromenos. It's like a kind of institutionalised paedophilia thing and anyway it grosses me out."

"Okay, what the hell?" said Johnny. "How do you even know this?"

"I did this one paper at-"

"Do you have a degree?" asked Johnny. "Because you keep just talking about all this fucking study you did."

Kate was silent for a moment. "No," she said, finally.

"How the fuck not?"

"Well," she said. "Basically a lot of bad life choices. I don't want to talk about it."

"Yeah, well, I don't want to think about paedophilia every time I drive down this road," he said.

"I guess life just sucks then," she said. "Look, pull over here, we need to head up the hill. What's this city's deal with all the classical architecture stuff, anyway?"

"Fuck if I know," said Johnny, reloading his shotgun and gesturing towards the hill. "You wanna go first?"

"Not particularly," she said.

He grinned. "Good."

Johnny took point and rushed in, with no regard for his safety. Kate followed, but she kept behind pillars, taking time to line up her shots with her pistol.

Waves of Ronin kept coming at them, until finally they stood surrounded by bodies, in what looked like the ruins of a temple.

"Is that all?" asked Johnny. "Kind of disappointing. Oh well."

"Ugh," said Kate, breathing heavily from the exertion. "Let's just get out of here before even more show up."

Johnny shrugged. "If you say so," he said, lightly. "Catch you later, then. It's been fun."

She watched him drive away, yellow cars peeling off as he drove up the street, following him, with a faint frown. She watched until he disappeared.


	26. Third Gear Scratch

Kate didn't often sleep at the HQ. It wasn't that far from the basement apartment, and the creaking sound as cars drove past on the road overhead was enough to keep her awake most of the time, but sometimes after staying there late she'd just crash in one of the rooms near the stairs up to the surface. The rooms were fairly small – big enough for a bed, a table and chairs, and not much else, with a bathroom attached. The wallpaper was torn and peeling.

It only seemed like a moment since she'd closed her eyes when the door opened.

"I love Luz," said Shaundi, sitting down on the end of the bed. It sagged down towards her. "She's so great."

"What?" Kate croaked. "I mean – yeah. She is. What?"

"We were talking about exes and stuff," Shaundi continued. "And she said you two actually met when you murdered her boyfriend."

Kate sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Well – I would have called it an execution," she said, frowning. "But yeah. She took that quite well, considering."

Shaundi scooted a little closer, wrinkling the faded green bedspread. "I got the impression," she said, quietly. "That he used to like – you know. Smack her around a little."

"Whoa." Kate's eyes opened wide. "Did not know that."

"She said you were pretty nice about the whole thing. And that you had some guy with you."

"Dex."

"Yeah. And I've heard you or Johnny talk about him before, and I was just, you know, wondering…" She trailed off.

"Mm," said Kate. "Yeah. Okay." She hesitated for a moment. "Well, he was a lieutenant under Julius. And Dex –Dex was smart. Like, really smart. Not like, college smart, because I'm pretty sure he taught himself everything he knows, but – he knew how to put a plan together. Christ, the shit he pulled off was insane." She grinned. "He had me and Johnny dress up like the Vice Kings because he'd figured out the police were working with them, and-" She stopped suddenly. "And that would be why Troy didn't want to take them on when Julius asked him _for fuck's sake_." She covered her face with her hands.

"Uh, are you okay?" asked Shaundi tentatively.

"I just want to fucking punch everything sometimes," said Kate. "No, not you, don't worry. Anyway, Dex ended up working for Ultor, somehow. Not sure how that happened."

There was a knock on the bedroom door, and then it opened again. Pierce came in, took a look around, and pulled out a chair to sit down on.

"Guys," said Kate. "I'm not even wearing pants, seriously."

"Really?" asked Shaundi.

"Whatever," said Pierce. "I got a couple more Ronin locations for you to hit. You in?"

Kate closed her eyes. "Are they big jobs like the last one? If they're not too complex you could probably just send a few of our guys in instead. Maybe get Carlos involved, he could probably use the experience."

"Nah, I checked with him," said Pierce. "Says he's got something planned that he wants to talk to you about later."

"Oh, cool," she said. "That'll be the Brotherhood thing. I'm kind of looking forward to that."

"Alright," said Pierce. "I'll sort it."

"Thanks," she said, as he stood up and left.

"Oh hey, yeah," said Shaundi. "That's right. I forgot what I'd come in here for, but I remember it now. I have this ex, right, who used to run distribution for the Samedi. He told me there are these huge pot farms up by the campus where they get most of their supply from."

"And what were you thinking?" asked Kate.

"Well, we could go out there and have a party," said Shaundi. "Or we could torch the whole thing. Could probably do both at the same time, now that I think about it."

"Burning and pillaging." Kate nodded slowly. "This is starting to sound like a job for Johnny. Get a team together, and call me if anything goes wrong. Are you going too?"

Shaundi shrugged languidly. "Yeah, I was thinking about it."

"Alright," Kate said. "Take care of yourself."

Shaundi looked at her for a moment longer, head tilted to one side curiously. "So what were you saying about Troy?"

Kate sighed. "Maybe later, Shaundi, okay? I have to go sort this thing out with Carlos."

"Yeah," she said. "If you want. See you." She closed the door behind her.

Kate called Carlos on her cellphone while she pulled her jeans back on.

"Hey, Carlito," she said, when he answered. "Heard you got something for me."

"Yeah!" He sounded cheerful. "He's gonna go for it. Haven't talked about canonising him yet, though."

"I'll bring it up with him," she said, beginning to lace her shoes. "I'm at HQ right now, where are you?"

"On my way."

She headed up to the surface to meet him. The sun outside was blisteringly hot, melting the asphalt beneath her feet. She raised a hand to shield her eyes. Donnie's car drove into the parking lot just a few minutes later.

"I'll drive," Carlos said as he pulled up next to her, a cheeky grin on his face.

"You're walking a very fine line," she said, smiling faintly. "Donnie and I'll be in the back, then." She got into the car.

"Why are you going to be sitting in the back too?" asked Donnie, alarmed.

"Well," said Kate, gently. "So I can protect you better, and because I want to talk to you."

"Feel like a taxi driver," said Carlos, half to himself, as he began to drive. "My uncle was a taxi driver."

"Think of it as a fallback career option if you keep making jokes about my driving," she said.

Carlos laughed.

She pulled her knee up on the seat next to her and turned around to face Donnie. He was pale and wide-eyed, dressed in nondescript black. The red streak in his hair had faded to an orange-pink.

She smiled. "Donnie," she said. "Don't do your seatbelt up. You're going to be getting in and out of cars a lot and you need to be able to do it in a hurry."

"Oh." He unclipped his seatbelt obediently.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"Okay," he said. "I guess."

"I feel like this is an important symbolic step," she said. "You know. Between the end of your old life and the beginning of your new life."

He shifted uncomfortably. "I don't like this talk about lives ending that much."

She grinned "You'll be fine."

"Yeah," he said, unconvinced.

"Look, what I wanted to talk to you about was joining the Saints more – well, not formally, more like tangibly, I guess." She waved a hand.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He glanced out the window nervously.

"Alright," she said. "Basically, we have this initiation thing we do, and you don't have to do it, but I would recommend you do. I had to do it."

"What is it?"

"Uh – everyone tries to fight you for like, a couple minutes. It's not for long, and if I time it right I can probably keep Johnny out of it so that you don't lose any teeth-"

"Oh, is that all?" The tension seemed to drain out of his shoulders. "Yeah, okay."

"Wow," she said. "Okay. That was, um, easier than I'd expected."

"What, you think I've never been beaten up before?" he asked, half smiling. "That's half the reason I started hanging out with Joe in the first place."

"Who?" Kate frowned.

"Joseph. Joseph Price. You know, the guy who's mansion you shot up?"

"Yeah," she said, slowly. "Sorry about that."

Donnie looked back out the window. "It was years ago," he said, quietly.

"First stop!" announced Carlos. "That'll be twenty five dollars."

Donnie got out of the car. Kate reached forward to ruffle Carlos' hair before getting out after him. They were in an empty parking lot, next to a gas station. Kate eyed the pumps cautiously. They were probably far enough away to avoid the blast if anything went wrong.

She leaned against the car, watching Donnie as he crouched next to the dark red truck. There were Brotherhood members standing around.

"Hey, Donnie," one of them said, a tall man in a sleeveless t-shirt to show off his tattoos. "Didn't something happen with you and Maero?"

Donnie glanced back at Kate, leaning against the dark red paint of his car. She smiled and shrugged.

"No," he said, finally, and turned back to the car.

The man looked towards Kate, who waved at him; looked at Donnie's car; and then turned back to Donnie. "Okay," he said. "Well, see you later."

"Yep," said Donnie, tightly. "See you."

Donnie came back to the car pale and trembling. He closed the door and started to do up his seatbelt before remembering, and abandoning it. "That was too close," he said.

Kate grinned. "No, oh my god, that was amazing." She watched out the back window as they accelerated away. "That was stone cold."

"Yeah, man," said Carlos from the front seat. "Good job."

"When does the bomb go off?" asked Kate.

Donnie shrugged. "We figured we'd set them off in an hour, once they're all done. Gets us less attention that way."

She nodded. "Good call."

Their next stop was in an alleyway behind a row of buildings, which was practically deserted. At least the high wall behind them kept them out of the sun's heat.

"So what do you think?" said Carlos quietly. He and Kate sat in the car, all of the windows rolled down, watching Donnie as he crouched by the cars.

Kate leaned forward against the back of his seat. "I'm pretty impressed," she said, keeping her voice as low as his. "To be honest. How'd you get the vehicle locations?"

Carlos nodded towards Donnie. "It's all him."

"I don't know what you've been saying to him, but it's working."

"Aww, he's alright," said Carlos, grinning. "Even if he's a – what was it you called him?"

"A weenie," admitted Kate. "For the love of god, don't ever tell him I said that."

"Oh, really?" Carlos' eyes widened. "I kinda told him already."

She turned to look at him, glaring, but he was laughing. "I didn't," he said. "I didn't. Really."

"You watch out," she said, trying not to smile. "That mouth's gonna get you in trouble."

"Does already," he said.

Donnie had finished and was heading back towards them. "One more to go," he said, getting back into the car. He leaned over the seat in front of him to give Carlos directions.

The last car was parked in front of an apartment building. There were a couple of people sitting on the steps outside, but none wearing Brotherhood red. Kate smiled, watching Donnie as he worked.

At last, he stood up and came back to the car. "Well, that's all of them," he said. "What do we do now?"

"We could go back to HQ," suggested Kate. "Or we could just go home. Does anyone from the Brotherhood know where you live?"

"Uh – yeah. Maybe."

"Yeah, you might want to move out," she said. "You can crash at HQ if you want. Or-" she paused. "Maybe you could have that basement apartment. I've been thinking about buying some real estate lately. Yeah, let's do that."

Carlos began to drive.


	27. Teenagers

It was early afternoon when Kate got the phone call. She was slowly following a blonde, manicured real estate agent around the penthouse suite of one of Stilwater's Hapton hotels. The view of the city from the large plate glass windows was stunning, and it was a moment before she reached for her phone.

"Just a second," she told the real estate agent, before turning away. "Carlos," she said. "You would not believe the apartment I'm looking at right now."

"Hey, I gotta talk to you," he said. "Take the El Train from Sunsinger at 4:30 going south."

"Um, okay," she said. "But-"

She paused, and looked down at the phone in her hand. He'd hung up.

"Alright," she said, sliding the phone back into her pocket. She turned to the real estate agent again, and pointed at the space next to the apartment's bar. "Hey, do you think I could get a pool installed about here?"

The woman grinned incredulously. "Anything you want!" she said.

Papers signed, Kate arrived at the station more than half an hour early, and had to watch the trains pass until the 4:30 arrived. She spotted Carlos through the window, and got into his carriage. She grabbed one of the handholds for balance.

"Hey," she said, coming up behind him.

"Hey," he whispered.

She could barely hear him over the sound of the train starting to move again, metal shrieking over the rails. "What's going on?" she whispered back. "Are you in trouble?"

"No. But, you know. Someone could have followed you."

"Oh my god," said Kate. "You're adorable. If you'd let me know we were going to be playing spies I would have worn like, a trench coat and fedora or something. And heels."

Carlos turned around, his cheeks flushing red.

"It's alright," she said. "It's fun. But not strictly necessary. What have you got for me?"

He looked up at her with his huge dark eyes. "I - well, I'm not sure where to go from here."

"Oh, okay," she said. "I guess I did kind of throw you in at the deep end. It was ages before I actually had to plan my own shit." She leaned forward slightly. "And then when I did get to plan something it involved like, literally everyone in the gang and was kind of over the top, in retrospect. Anyway. Brotherhood. Any word on that shipment yet?"

"Okay," said Carlos, relaxing slightly. "Yeah, it's-" He lowers his voice and took a step closer. "Some kind of weapons shipment. Coming in a couple of weeks."

"Good," said Kate. "Get me details on that. What else?"

"Uh - they like trucks. And tattoos."

Kate frowned, watching the setting sun sparkle on the sea out the window as they passed.

"What do they even do with their trucks?" she asked. "I feel like it's not racing."

He shook his head. "I don't think so."

She nodded. "Right. Find out some more about it and then think up some way we can mess it up. Talk to Donnie about it too. And I was thinking the other day that we should try and hunt down any protection rackets they may have going on. They're usually fairly easy to break down and also provide a decent income stream."

He nodded, giving her a crooked smile that she couldn't help smiling back at. "You're doing a good job," she said, add the reason pulled into Ezpata station. "And this would be my stop."

"Helicopter lesson?" he asked.

"That's right."

"Need me to have fire services on standby?" he asked, as the doors opened.

"You might be doing a good job, but you're also a little shit," she said, stepping out of the train. "Christ. See you later."

The helicopter training had been – mostly successful. She'd possibly damaged one of the skids by landing lopsidedly, and an almost painfully-loud alarm had gone off when she hit something wrong while 200 feet up, but overall – it had gone well. She headed back to the HQ.

The coolness of the mission building was a welcome relief from the heat outside. It was almost instant, the cool stone of the city below leaching the warmth out of the air.

The headquarters was quiet. Usually there'd be a couple of kids standing up the top, or drinking in a stairwell, but Kate hadn't seen anyone and she was already halfway down the stairs.

There was a crash from the ground floor, and she relaxed a little. She wasn't alone down here with the rats. She started to go down the stairs a little faster.

"Stop!" a voice called out. "Stop right there!"

She looked down at the floor below. A man with a Samedi-green t shirt and a rasta hat was half-carrying Shaundi with one arm, and was pointing the wavering barrel of a gun at her with the other.

"Back the fuck off," he said, moving to press the pistol against Shaundi's temple. "Or this bitch is dead."

Kate raised her hands slightly, enough to show him she wasn't holding a weapon. "Shaundi, you okay?" she called out.

She got a muffled groan in response.

"Fuck are you doing?" she asked, moving back, past the statue, to give him enough space to get up the stairs. "Did you actually come here on your own?"

"What the fuck does it look like?" he spat. He backed up the stairs, away from her. "Stay back!"

She took a slow step up towards him, only to pause when he pushed the gun hard up against Shaundi's head.

"Why don't you just let her go?" asked Kate. "Because, believe me, this is not going to end well for you."

She saw his eyes narrow behind his round glasses, and dived behind the statue as he raised the gun towards her and pulled the trigger. The sound echoed around the room, and she was showered with chips of stone. She drew her gun, now that he couldn't see her, and leaned out carefully. He was gone.

"Shit," she hissed, grabbing her phone out of her pocket and starting to follow them. Before she could dial, the phone rang. She didn't know the number.

"Hello?" she said, cautiously.

"This is Veteran Child," said the voice on the other end. "Come to Cocks now if you want Shaundi back."

"Come to what?" she asked. "Wait, are you the guy from Gen X?"

"Cocks," he repeated. "It's a fucking bar."

"Cocks?" she exclaimed. "Shit, if you wanted me to come to a bar called Cocks you could have just called me and said 'meet me at Cocks', and I'd be like, 'fuck yeah, Cocks'! You don't have to kidnap one of my friends."

"Shut up!" he said.

"Calm down," she replied. "What's got you upset enough to do this, anyway? You seem a lot cooler on the radio."

He hung up.

Kate swore under her breath as she headed for her car, scrolling through her contacts until she got to Pierce, and dialled.

"Hey, what up?" he said.

"Hey, Pierce, uh, Shaundi just got kidnapped by the Gen X DJ and he said I should meet him at Cocks."

"What?!"

"I know, right." Kate turned the key in the ignition. "Do you know where Cocks is?"

"N- well, uh, yeah," he said. "It's up by the mall."

"Cheers," she said, and was about to hang up when she heard Pierce yelling.

"What?" she asked.

"Doesn't that seem like a trap to you?"

"Yeah," she said. "Guess so. Still, what else am I going to do?"

"Do you have anyone with you right now?"

"Nope," she said, looking around the empty parking lot.

"You sound pretty calm about this," said Pierce.

"This whole thing is fucking ridiculous," she replied. "I'm honestly having a hard time taking it seriously."

"The guy works for the Samedi," he said. "This could be a big deal."

"Then why'd he come on his own then?" she asked. "That's a little desperate."

"I don't know," she said. "Whatever. I'm going to send Johnny. Don't leave without him."

"Christ," she said. "Now you're just making things too easy."

Johnny pulled up in his purple Venom only a few minutes later. "So," he said, as she got into his car. "Rescue mission, huh?"

She grinned. "Not often you get to be rescuer instead of rescuee, is it? How do you like it on the other side?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "We'll see who needs rescuing," he said, as he began to drive. "So, what's going on? Pierce was kind of vague."

"Uh, we need to go to Cocks, because Veteran Child kidnapped Shaundi," she said, leaning forward to change the station to Gen X. Veteran Child's pre-recorded voice was just fading out as a new song began. "This guy! Oh, hey, I like this song."

"I don't know what the fuck it is with you," he said. "But all your favourite songs sound like they're sung by boy bands that wear eyeliner."

"Fuck you," said Kate, laughing. "Oh, for fuck's sake, that's depressingly accurate."

"You gotta do something about that, man," he said, shaking his head.

They pulled up outside the bar. Kate followed behind Johnny as he kicked open the nightclub door.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was unlocked," she said.

"Do I look like I give a fuck?" he shot back.

The bar was quiet, but a group of Samedi stood up as they rounded the corner, firing. Johnny threw a wooden barstool towards them, knocking some of them over, then pulled out his shotgun and began to fire. Kate barely had to do a thing, just picking off Samedi around the edges of the fray with her pistol, not letting them get too close to Johnny.

When Johnny had the last one by the throat, Kate wandered up to the mezzanine overlooking the dance floor. It was empty.

"I don't think she's here," she called down to Johnny. There was an answering blast from the floor below. "I'm going to call Pierce. Come on, let's go."

She dialled as they stepped over the bodies lying across the floor.

"Did you find her?" asked Pierce.

"Not here," she said. "And Cocks did not have nearly as many dick-themed decorations as I was expecting. Any idea where else this guy might have taken her?"

"Hold on," said Pierce, just as Kate and Johnny were getting into the car. "Yeah, he's meant to be playing at On Track tonight."

Johnny started the car and pulled out into the road. Kate scrolled back through her phone, and redialled Veteran Child's number.

"Hello?" he said, tentatively.

"Hey," said Kate. "So, did you, like, have a backup plan for if your first plan didn't work?"

"Oh, shit," he said. "Shit."

She laughed. "Seriously, did you think it up in like, five minutes? It barely even counts as a trap. I've been in way better traps."

"Fuck this," he said.

"Uh huh," said Kate. "So we're heading to On Track right now. I'm going to miss your radio show, man. Guess I'll have to start listening to the Underground. It gets such bad reception though, ugh."

"Motherfucker," he breathed.

"Okay," Kate relented. "You get one chance. If Shaundi is outside, waiting, when we arrive, we won't come after you."

"Hey," said Johnny. "Speak for yourself."

Kate shook her head at him. "But that's it," she said, to Veteran Child. "That's all you're getting. Your choice."

The phone went dead.

"Think he's going to go for it?" asked Johnny.

"I have no idea," said Kate. "I don't know why he's doing this in the first place." She sighed irritably. "You know what's unbelievable? Seriously un-fucking-believable? He walked right into the HQ. Literally no one was there to stop him."

"You serious?" he asked.

"Yeah. Like I have no fucking idea how that happened, but we can't have random enemy gang members waltzing right in to kidnap our lieutenants. It's fucking ridiculous."

"Let's talk more about security later," he said, pulling into a parking lot. "We're here."

The parking lot was empty and quiet, the doors of On Track closed. Kate looked around. Southern Cross still looked pretty much as it always had, sparse trees and brick apartment blocks. She smiled.

"No Shaundi here," said Johnny. "What a pity. Let's go inside."

This time Kate tried the handle, but it was locked. She rolled her eyes and stepped back to let Johnny bust it open with a well-placed kick. Immediately she heard yelling and gunfire from inside. Johnny disappeared into the club.

He'd managed to clear most of the room before she'd even set foot inside. She watched him smash the butt of his shotgun into someone's face, dropping him, and then turn and catch another gang member in the chest with his next shot. She tilted her head to one side. It was almost art.

"How do you even carry that much ammo?" she asked, as they descended into the underground club. It was all brick and glass and soft blue lighting.

"Deep pockets," he said.

"Ugh," said Kate. "Do you have any idea how many fucking women's clothes have fake pockets? It's not even funny."

"Fuck is the point of fake pockets?" he asked.

"I have no fucking idea. Shopping is a constant disappointment." She looked down at the bottom floor. She couldn't see Veteran Child, but she recognised Shaundi's jeans and canvas shoes. It looked like she was lying on the ground.

She walked down the stairs slowly, pistol aiming in Shaundi's direction. Veteran Child was standing over her, his eyes wild.

"You think you can kill me in my own club?" he asked. "Don't come a fucking step closer." He bent down, over Shaundi.

"Bitch," said Kate. "I can drop you from here." She pulled the trigger, knocking him backwards. He slumped against the wall, the bullet hole just above his temple.

Kate hurried over to Shaundi, who was trying to sit up. "You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she said. "Head hurts, though." She took Kate's arm and hauled herself up.

"You need a doctor?" asked Kate.

"Doctor Mary Jane is the only doctor I need right now," said Shaundi. "And I need treatment. Stat."


	28. Rock And  Roll Queen

"Look, Lee, it's not like I don't have faith in your abilities, but can we just bribe the judge?" asked Kate. She was sitting on top of the HQ roof, legs dangling over the side and holding her phone to her ear. "This is taking forever."

"The wheels of justice turn slowly," said Legal Lee. "But sure. You're looking at ten to twenty K."

"Ugh. Okay. We can spare that for a top quality chemist."

"Fine. Give me a couple of weeks."

"Thanks. Keep me updated."

"Will do."

She hung up, with a sigh. Maybe it would have been quicker to break into the prison.

She took the elevator back down to the ground, and made her way downstairs, where Pierce and Johnny were sitting on the couches around the table. There was tinny music playing out of a radio on the bar behind them.

"Hey," said Kate, dropping onto the couch next to Johnny.

"Sup," said Pierce.

"Well," she began. "We've gotta talk about what's going on down here. Seriously, I can't walk into any of their headquarters and abduct one of their lieutenants, and they shouldn't be able to do that to us, either. It's not good enough." Kate ran a hand through her hair irritably. "And I can't enforce some sort of bullshit roster system because that's ridiculous. What the fuck do I do?"

"It's a numbers thing," said Johnny with a shrug. "We don't have enough members to keep it busy."

"Oh," said Kate, slowly. "Well, alright. How do we recruit more people?"

"We're gonna have to be more visible," he said. "Make people want to join."

"More visible like–" She paused. "You're going to suggest blowing something up, aren't you?"

"That is where I was going with this," he said, cheerfully.

"What was it going to be?"

"How about Police headquarters?" he asked.

She blinked at him. "N-no," she said, frowning. "If they lose that, they're going to send in the army or some shit. And if we already don't have the numbers to fill up our HQ we're going to be fucked."

"Oh." The smile dropped off his face. "Maybe later, then."

"Mm." She rubbed her forehead. "Well – I'll think about it. Pierce? Any ideas?"

"It needs to be something showy," he said. "Something that says 'you want to join us instead of the other guys'. Let's keep an eye out for major events we can crash."

"Okay," she said. "Good start."

"Anyway," said Pierce. "Johnny tells me you have a new place."

"Yeah!" said Kate. "It's amazing. You should come see it."

"I was hoping you'd say that," he said. "How do you feel about a house warming party?"

"Uh – ambivalent," she said.

"Don't be like that," he said. "How's tonight sound?"

"I just – I hate cleaning up after shit like that," she admitted. "It's so nice. I don't want to ruin it."

"Can't you pay people to do that for you?" asked Pierce.

"Kate's eyes widened. "Oh. Oh yeah. Well – okay, then."

"Just watch what you drink," Johnny said, smiling faintly. "You're the messiest drunk I ever seen."

"Fuck you," she said. "Bring Aisha if she wants to come, by the way."

"She'll appreciate that," he said.

"And – Pierce," she said. "Can you just organise this whole thing? I can't be fucked." She winced and turned to Johnny, who was grinning, and glared at him. "Don't say it. Don't you fucking say it."

He leaned back in his seat. "Wasn't going to say anything."

"Sure thing," said Pierce. "Can we get strippers?"

Kate drummed her fingers against the arm of the couch thoughtfully. "Yes," she said, at last. "As long as you get guy strippers as well as girl strippers. Let's be equal opportunity about this shit."

Pierce shrugged. "Seems fair. I'll get right onto it."

The liquor started arriving by three in the afternoon. Kate stared as the deliverymen brought the boxes in. There was a case of champagne, crates of beer, and boxes and boxes filled with bottles of spirits. Kate began stacking the bottles behind the bar, but soon ran out of space.

The sun was setting when people started arriving at Kate's apartment that evening, sending beams of golden light lancing through the entire apartment. The sky in the distance was slowly turning scarlet. The large, curving staircase came down on either side of the bottom floor, framing the lounge and kitchen. There was a bar tucked under one side of the staircase, and beyond that there was a pool, lit by glowing blue lights under the water.

"Okay so I have like two rules," she said, showing the guests around. "One is, that's my bedroom up there. Don't have sex in it. Bed, wardrobe, floor, whatever. Just don't. Number two is, if you go outside onto the helipad to smoke, fucking be careful and don't go near the edge. It gets really windy up there sometimes. No wait, I thought of another one. If you throw up in the pool I am going to kick you down the fire exit stairs."

Pierce was the first of the lieutenants to arrive. "Not bad," he said, as he walked through the door. "It's big."

"How much is tonight costing me?" Kate asked him, leading him downstairs.

"Can you put a price on having a good time?" he asked, pouring a glass of champagne. "Just have fun." He handed the glass to her. She rolled her eyes and gulped it down.

Johnny and Aisha arrived together, and then Carlos. She didn't know that Shaundi was even there until she grabbed her by the arm, because she was on her tenth glass of champagne by that time. Shaundi dragged her outside, onto the roof. The wind whipped at their hair.

"Hey, look," Shaundi said. "I wanted to say sorry. Sorry you had to come rescue me."

Kate waved a hand. "Oh, it's fine," she said. "No big deal. You're okay and that's all that matters."

"I just feel bad that I couldn't take care of it myself."

"Honestly," said Kate. "It shouldn't have happened, but that's not because of you, it's because no one else was fucking there. It's my job to protect you and to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"I just felt so useless," said Shaundi.

Kate laughed. "Because I had to come rescue you?" she asked. "Do you know how often I've had to rescue Johnny? It's like, literally all the time. He's probably due for another one any day now." She rolled her eyes. "I mean, to be fair, it's usually because he takes these insane risks, but still. Everyone has different strengths. You have a great contacts network and you're good at putting a decent plan together. You don't need to be a combat expert as well. Know what I mean?"

"Yeah," said Shaundi. "Okay."

"I mean I'm not the best at close combat either. Especially with being in a coma for so long. My arms are pretty much noodles."

Shaundi grinned. "You're a good shot though."

"Not as good as I used to be," said Kate. "Honestly I didn't really hit Veteran Child where I was aiming. Maybe you and me should go to a shooting range."

"Sounds fun," said Shaundi. "Wait, are you saying you almost missed Veteran Child when he was holding me? Does that mean you almost hit me?"

"Uh – it was closer than I'd like," said Kate. "Let's leave it at that."

"Oh," she said. "Great."

"Let's get more drinks," said Kate, and went inside, weaving her way back to the bar. She passed Aisha, who was talking to a group of people, with a smile. When she was done, Shaundi was sitting on the couch with Johnny, Pierce and Carlos. Kate sat down on a chair nearby. She heard a smashing glass behind them, followed by a chorus of jeers. She didn't bother turning around to see what it was.

"So, do you have tattoos?" asked Shaundi. "I don't think I've seen any on you."

"Uh, no, actually," said Kate.

"How come?"

"Well – honestly, part of it is that a little white girl with no visible tattoos kind of doesn't present as a threat. It sounds a little cynical, but you can walk away from a situation pretty much 90% of the time and be anonymous by the time you're a block away."

"You're too cautious," said Johnny.

Kate crossed her legs. "And you're not cautious enough," she said, with a smile. "Hence why I'm constantly rescuing you."

"It's not constant," he said, his eyes narrowing.

"I feel like you must get something out of it," Kate continued. "On an emotional level."

"Katie, shut the fuck up." His glare was intensifying.

"Is it because it gives you proof of how much I care about you in that I am willing to risk my life to save yours?" she asked, earnestly.

"So what would you get?" Shaundi asked, loudly. "If you were going to get a tattoo."

"Oh," said Kate, blinking. "I don't know. I never really figured out anything I really need to have. Like, I was really into the idea of getting a pin up girl tattoo a while ago, but then I just thought 'do I really want to get a tattoo of someone that's hotter than I am'?"

"You're overthinking it," said Shaundi.

"She overthinks everything," said Johnny. "Good luck trying to break that habit."

"Well - honestly, I kind of want a chest piece," Kate continued. "Like, something big but delicate. Maybe some kind of fleur de lis pattern that looks like jewellery. Or whatever flower a fleur de lis is based on. I don't know. And I'm going to have to get it designed myself because the generic Rusty's Needle flash is terrible."

She had to raise her voice to be heard. Most of the crew had arrived, and the music was turned up to an almost ear-splitting level. Strippers were winding themselves around poles, and Kate paused to watch one particularly acrobatic male stripper in a cop uniform.

She turned back to the others. "I am, like, weirdly into guys that have tattoos that scream 'bad life choices'," she said. "Like – okay, there was this one guy in the Saints before the whole explosion thing who had this virgin Mary tattoo on his neck and I was just like, goddamn that's unemployable."

"Really?" asked Carlos. "My brother had a Santa Maria tattoo."

Kate froze.

"Oh, shit!" said Pierce, raising his eyebrows. "This just got weird."

Carlos was grinning. He touched the side of his neck. "Just here? And she was praying?"

"Oh my god," croaked Kate. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," he said. "See, I knew you'd remember him."

"Did you hook up?" asked Shaundi.

Kate covered her eyes with her hands. "No," she said. "I think I only talked to him, like, twice. Holy shit."

"How come?" Shaundi tilted her head to one side. "You're not like, waiting until you get married, right? I've been wondering."

Kate could feel the blood rising to her face. Johnny was trying hard not to laugh. "No," she said, irritably. "I have had sex before. Jesus. It's just – I don't have to be banging someone all of the time, you know?"

"I just don't get it," said Johnny. "It's weird."

"If you think not having sex for long periods of time is weird, I don't even want to know what you did in jail. Look, I'm not waiting for true love or something like that. I just want someone I can trust, and who's nice, and who'll pull my hair and choke me a little. You know?"

"Whoa," said Pierce.

"What the fuck," said Johnny.

"Totally," said Shaundi, with a grin.

She stood up. "I'm going to get another drink."

She pushed through the crowd on the dance floor, and ducked behind the bar. As she looked up, she saw Carlos had followed her.

"Hey," he said. "I – I just wanted to say sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you like that."

"You didn't really," she said. "I mean – it's fine. It's just really weird."

"Guess it is," he said. "But – it was nice to hear about him. Know that someone else remembers him too. Lately I've been going days without thinking about him. And I don't want to forget him. So thank you."

She finished topping up her glass before replying. "What happened to him?" she asked, quietly.

He looked down. "Shootout with los Carnales while defending the church," he said. "I think they targeted him. Because, you know. He was Mexican."

"They thought he should have joined them and not the Saints?" she asked.

He nodded, wordlessly.

"I'm really sorry," said Kate. "I – if there's any reason I kind of hesitated to take this job on – it'd be because of how many people we lost. That church saw a lot of bloodshed."

"I just want to make him proud," he said.

"I think he would be," said Kate.

"You know," he said, smiling. "I look like him."

"Yeah," said Kate. "You kinda do."


	29. And She Would Darken The Memory

It was one of Stilwater's clear, cool days; the sun shining brightly but the air holding a chill. Kate stretched out in the leather passenger seat of Johnny's car, the wind blowing in her hair.

"Corners," said Kate. "Corners are pretty safe. Walls, you see, walls are pretty much just wood frame and plaster and wiring and insulation. Bullets go right through. I guess you could get lucky with concrete walls in an apartment building or something like that but most residential houses are pretty much tissue paper."

"Really?" asked Johnny. "Why corners?"

"There's a lot of studs in them," she said. "More stuff for the bullets to hit. It's not like, impossible to get hit but your odds are better. Not sure about doors."

"Most doors you can shoot through," said Johnny. "It's the same with cars, you know? Doors aren't much protection. At least get behind the engine block."

"Oh, hey, yeah," she said. "What about furniture? Couches?"

"Think the only real value there is so anyone shooting at you can't see exactly where you are," he said. "Which is better than nothing, but not by much."

"Ugh," said Kate. "Maybe we should just get tanks and never leave them ever again."

"Hey, I'm down," said Johnny. "Oh, yeah, I forgot. Aisha wants you to come over for dinner."

"Really?" asked Kate. "I feel like I didn't pay much attention to her during the party and I kind of feel bad."

"Come on," said Johnny. "She doesn't need babysitting. She had a great time. She knows how to work a room, you know? She even got told me that she looked like 'that one singer' a couple of times. She says it's annoying but she loves that shit deep down."

"Well, okay, yeah," she said, a smile spreading over her face. "That sounds great. Let's just stop at a Brown Baggers so I can pick up some wine or something." She grinned at Johnny. "That's really sweet of her, Jesus."

"Yeah," he said. "I think she's looking for a way to say thank you. You know."

"Oh my god, shut up," she said, as they pulled up next to the store. "You're killing me."

She dashed inside, picked up two bottles of champagne, and paid for it. She got back into the car, laying the bottles down in the footwell.

"What are we celebrating again?" Johnny asked, eyeing the bottles.

"I don't know, Tuesday?" she said. "I like champagne, okay, you know this already."

He pulled away from the kerb. "If you say so," he said.

The sinking sun was beginning to turn the sky scarlet.

"Are you guys married?" she asked, suddenly.

"It's hard to get married in this city if one of the people is legally dead," said Johnny. "Who'd have thought?"

"Oh," she said, laughing. "Yeah, I guess that might be a problem."

"And it feels like we're married already, you know?" he continued. "I bought her a ring and everything, so." He shrugged as he pulled in to the driveway.

Kate got out of the car, tucking one bottle of champagne under her arm and picking the other one up by the neck, and hurried to catch up with Johnny.

As she approached, he held out a hand, halting her in her tracks. The door was standing slightly ajar. They shared a look. Katie was putting the bottles down by the side of the path when Johnny pulled out his gun.

"Eesh?" he called out, pushing the door open with his barrel of the pistol. "You home?"

Kate drew her own gun, and glanced through the blinds behind the windows. Everything inside looked normal.

Johnny was already walking inside. She looked up and down the street. It was quiet. Same as always. She turned back to look at the bottles next to the path.

" _Johnny _!"__

__Kate's head snapped back towards the house as she heard Aisha's scream._ _

__" _It's a- _" She was suddenly cut off.___ _

____Kate ran inside._ _ _ _

____"Eesh!" Johnny yelled. He grabbed a sword from a nearby Ronin and stabbed him with it before turning to the man who was standing by a chair who was watching him calmly. He was tall and muscular, with a closely shaved head, and seemed to exude a confidence that the others didn't. He inclined his head politely, before taking a fighting stance. Johnny leapt towards him._ _ _ _

____Kate stared, at Aisha's cream suit, freckled with blood, the sharp, bright red stripe on the wall, the small, dark shape in the corner, covered in tight curls-_ _ _ _

____"Kate!" yelled Johnny. "Fucking back me up!"_ _ _ _

____She flinched at the sound, and finally tore her eyes away. She was standing, surrounded by three Ronin, two men and a woman, holding SMGs. They were watching her with some uncertainty, waiting for her to make a move. One of them darted towards her and snatched the pistol from her numb fingers._ _ _ _

____"Oh, fuck me," she said. She kicked one of the guys in the crotch, then grabbed the woman's wrist with one hand and aimed her gun at the second man, then used the other to pull the trigger. She finished by elbowing the woman hard under her chin and ripping the SMG from her hands._ _ _ _

____A sharp, searing pain in the back of her thigh made her turn. The Ronin on the floor was holding a sword at arm's length, only just able to reach her._ _ _ _

____"Are you fucking serious?" she asked, and fired a burst into his chest, and then another into the girl she'd just knocked down._ _ _ _

____Johnny was matching the swordsman blow for blow, steel clashing as they swung. Kate watched, transfixed, but a flicker of yellow at the door and a rattle of gunfire tore her attention away._ _ _ _

____She dived behind the couch, and almost immediately wished she hadn't. The Ronin had taken cover behind the kitchen bench, which was a damn sight more solid than the couch was. She wriggled to one end, pressed flat, and crouched to shoot._ _ _ _

____She raised her gun as Johnny suddenly stepped back into her line of fire, driven by a hard blow, but he pushed back just as hard and was out of sight again. Kate saw a head rise over the kitchen counter and fired, knocking it back in a spray of blood. The next tried to run out from the corner, but didn't make it far before she cut him down. She took a deep breath, heart pounding, and ran towards the kitchen to take out the third. She rounded the corner to see him staring up at her in shock. She used up the last of her ammo shooting him in the face, then scooped up his gun as a replacement._ _ _ _

____She tracked Johnny and the Ronin he was fighting with the new SMG, but couldn't get a clear shot._ _ _ _

____"Johnny," she called. "Get the fuck down."_ _ _ _

____He glanced back at her. Her eyes widened as she saw the sword swinging towards him. She shrieked as the long metal blade plunged into his stomach, then seemed to sprout from his back. Johnny looked down at the sword, almost as if in disbelief. His opponent leaned in towards him, sliding the blade further in. Johnny's knees sagged, his fingers closing around the handle of the blade weakly._ _ _ _

____Somehow, Johnny managed to take a swing at the Ronin. He dodged it, easily, but was far enough back for Kate to raise her gun and fire._ _ _ _

____Her shaking hands meant the shots went wide, but it was enough to get the man to back off. He disappeared out the door._ _ _ _

____Johnny's hands were on the handle of the blade._ _ _ _

____"Don't touch it!" Kate called out, but Johnny had already wrenched the sword out of his body. He took a step towards the door, as if to follow the Ronin, but dropped to one knee as blood began to soak his shirt. He slumped to the floor._ _ _ _

____Kate ran around to the other side of the counter._ _ _ _

____"Holy shit, Johnny," she breathed. She lifted his shirt and pressed down on the wound with both hands. Blood began to bubble up from the cracks between her fingers._ _ _ _

____His eyes were glazed and unfocused behind his glasses. He looked towards the door. "Go-" he rasped. "Go after him."_ _ _ _

____"No," she said, incredulous. She reached for her phone, but her fingers were slick with blood and smeared the screen as she tried to touch the buttons. She wiped it on her tank top before calling 911._ _ _ _

____She snatched a dishtowel from the kitchen as she spoke to the operator, and used it to press down on Johnny's wound, hard, which made his eyes roll back in his head but at least it was keeping the blood inside._ _ _ _

____An ambulance was on its way. Each minute seemed to stretch into hours._ _ _ _

____"Talk to me," she said. "Okay?" He was silent. "Johnny?"_ _ _ _

____"Where's – Eesh?" he asked, with some effort. "Is she – is she okay?"_ _ _ _

____"She- She's-" Kate couldn't find the right words. "Well, the ambulance is coming, so – so we can get the paramedics to look at her too. O-okay?"_ _ _ _

____He seemed to relax. "Okay," he repeated back, weakly. "Where is she?"_ _ _ _

____Kate couldn't make herself look. "You can't see her from here," she said, carefully. "But, she's just around the corner."_ _ _ _

____"Corners," he said. "That's good. Safer."_ _ _ _

____The breath caught in her throat. "Yeah," she croaked._ _ _ _

____"So much blood," he mumbled. "Fuckin' – bodies everywhere. Eesh is going to be pissed."_ _ _ _

____She bit her lip, hard. "Stay with me, okay?" she said. "The Saints would be kind of shit without you."_ _ _ _

____He closed his eyes. "You could do it," he said. "On your own."_ _ _ _

____She laughed shakily. "You don't even believe that when you're not dying," she said, her voice cracking. "Like hell I'm going to believe you now."_ _ _ _

____He didn't reply. He seemed to be getting paler. "Johnny?" she asked, grabbing his hand. He squeezed back, but the movement was weak. The blood pooling under him was beginning to spread. There was a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach._ _ _ _

____She couldn't even hear sirens. She reached for her phone again and began dialling._ _ _ _

____"What up?" said Pierce._ _ _ _

____"Johnny's been stabbed," she said. "I-"_ _ _ _

____"Does that mean I get a promotion?" he asked._ _ _ _

____"Wh- what?" she asked, startled. "Jesus. What the fuck is wrong with you?" She hung up in disgust and dialled again._ _ _ _

____"Hey, Katie," said Carlos._ _ _ _

____"Carlos," she said. "I need you to come to Johnny's house. He's been stabbed and it's bad and the ambulance isn't coming and we need to get him to a hospital right now." Her words came out in a rush._ _ _ _

____"Okay," he said, calmly. "Should I bring Donnie?"_ _ _ _

____"Why the fuck would you need to bring Donnie?" she snapped._ _ _ _

____"You know, he's a racer," said Carlos. "He can drive faster than-"_ _ _ _

____Kate shook her head. "Okay," she said. "Yes, bring Donnie. Hurry. Please."_ _ _ _

____Johnny's eyes were closed._ _ _ _

____"Johnny?"_ _ _ _

____"Gotta save Eesh," he murmured._ _ _ _

____She couldn't answer._ _ _ _

____It seemed like hours later, but could only have been minutes, before Carlos burst through the door. "Whoa," he said, looking down at Kate and Johnny. "He doesn't look good."_ _ _ _

____She struggled to her feet. She'd been kneeling next to him for so long that her legs had gone numb. "Help me with him," she said._ _ _ _

____They managed to manoeuvre him, barely conscious, out to the car, knocking over one of the champagne bottles on their way past. Kate couldn't help but stare at it as it rolled gently down the grass to the sidewalk. It already seemed so long ago since she'd bought them._ _ _ _

____She climbed into the back seat to keep pressure on Johnny's wound and try to keep him conscious._ _ _ _

____"Shit," said Donnie, turning around in his seat to stare at them. The tan leather seats were already smeared and striped with blood._ _ _ _

____"Yeah," said Kate tightly. "Could we just go, please?"_ _ _ _

____"Don't worry," he said. "No one else is dying in this car."_ _ _ _

____She managed a weak, but grateful smile._ _ _ _

____The streets were a darkening blur outside the car windows, and the only sound she could hear was Johnny's laboured breathing and the occasional hiss in the background as Donnie changed gears. Johnny didn't seem as if he was bleeding as much as he had been before, which worried her, and his skin had taken on a greyish cast._ _ _ _

____"Not long now," she said, quietly._ _ _ _

____Johnny was having trouble keeping his eyes open, and seemed to be lapsing in and out of consciousness. He made an effort to steady his vision as he looked at her. "I have to go," he said. "I have to go to her, Katie."_ _ _ _

____Kate clenched her jaw. "Not yet," she said. "We gotta get you sorted out first, okay?"_ _ _ _

____His eyes closed again. "She needs me."_ _ _ _

____"I'm sorry," she said, unevenly. "I'm so sorry."_ _ _ _

____With a final swerve, Donnie pulled into the hospital carpark. Again, she and Carlos between them carried Johnny into the building. They stood there in the doorway for a moment, all of them drenched in blood, before what seemed like the entire hospital sprang into action, getting Johnny onto a gurney and wheeling him into the operating theatre._ _ _ _

____"Ma'am?" asked a nurse. "Are you injured?"_ _ _ _

____Kate looked down at herself. Her tank top and shorts were covered in Johnny's blood. Her legs had streaks along them down the front of her shins where she'd been kneeling beside him for so long, and her hands and forearms were still a bright red._ _ _ _

____"It's mostly not mine," she said. "Though – can you tell me how deep this is?" She turned around, indicating the slash on the back of her leg._ _ _ _

____"Borderline for stitches, I'd say," said the nurse. "You can probably do without. I'll send someone out to dress it shortly."_ _ _ _

____"If you get someone to give me a bandage I'll do it myself," she offered._ _ _ _

____The nurse disappeared, and Kate slumped down into a waiting room chair._ _ _ _

____Carlos sat down next to her. "You okay?" he asked._ _ _ _

____She turned her gaze towards him wearily. "I don't know if he's going to make it," she said, quietly._ _ _ _

____"Maybe we should take you home," he said. "Being here won't help you any."_ _ _ _

____She shook her head vehemently. "Not until Johnny's okay," she said. "Or – or we know – what's happened."_ _ _ _

____"Okay," he said, his dark eyes serious. "I'll go tell Donnie to leave." He seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if waiting for a response, but when he didn't get one, turned around and left._ _ _ _

____A different nurse handed her a rolled up bandage, and she began to unravel it as she wound it slowly and carefully around her leg._ _ _ _

____Just as she was finishing it, Carlos slid back into the seat next to hers. She blinked at him in surprise. "You're staying?" she asked. "You don't have to. You know."_ _ _ _

____"I know," he said. "I don't want you to be waiting here on your own is all."_ _ _ _

____She gave him a smile that felt unnatural on her face. "Thanks," she said._ _ _ _

____She looked down at her bloodstained hands._ _ _ _


	30. All That I've Got

It was just before two in the morning.

"I just want to know how he is." Katie raised her voice, leaning over the emergency room desk. "Can you just fucking tell me _something_?"

The nurse leaned back in her chair, wide-eyed. "I – I don't have any-"

"Excuse me, ma'am."

Kate turned to see another nurse at her side. She was tiny, barely over five feet tall, and had dark brown hair scraped back into a severe bun.

"Your friend has a life-threatening injury," she said. "The fact that there hasn't been any news yet is good, because it means he's not dead yet."

Kate blinked at her, speechless.

"The men and women at this hospital are trying their hardest to save your friend right now," she continued. "And they deserve better than to be yelled at. We understand that you're upset, but please try and treat the people _trying to help you_ with some decency."

Kate swallowed. "Um. Yeah. Sorry. You're right." She turned back to the other nurse. "Sorry," she said to her too, and began to walk back to her seat.

Carlos was sprawled in the seat next to hers, head bowed and eyes closed. She sat down next to him and blearily watched the emergency room clock as the second hand went round and round.

She jumped as her phone started ringing, and stood up quickly to avoid waking Carlos. When she glanced at the screen, she went outside. As soon as she was out of earshot of anyone inside, she hit 'answer'.

"Hey," she said, quietly.

"Katie," said Troy. "Just had a hell of a crime scene called in. You okay?"

"Oh, Jesus." She closed her eyes. "Yeah. I'm okay. You found out quick."

"Paramedics called it in when they couldn't find anyone alive at the scene."

"How'd you know I'd be involved?"

He laughed humourlessly. "Come on, Katie. I know you better than that."

"Guess you do," she said.

He paused. "Katie - that's her, isn't it?"

Kate leaned against the wall. "Her? Aisha? Yeah. Have – have you been out to see- ?"

"I'm there now."

"Oh," she said. "Well. Sorry to get you out of bed."

"Heh. Used to it," he said. "You wanna tell me what happened?"

She glanced back towards the light coming from the emergency room doors. "Are we talking about in an official capacity right now?" she asked. "Because I'm at the hospital right now waiting to see if Johnny's going to die or not."

There was a pause. "That bad?" Troy asked, finally.

She sighed. "Pretty bad."

"If you give me something now," he said. "I can probably keep anyone from coming down to the hospital to question Johnny for a little longer."

She let out a shaky breath. "That – yeah, okay," she said.

"Start with what you were doing."

"Well – we were heading back to Johnny's," she said. "And – the door was open, just a little, so – Johnny knew something was wrong. We went inside, and then, well – Aisha was just trying to protect us, it wouldn't even have made a fucking difference to him."

"To who?"

"Guy that fucking cut her head off."

"Tell me about him."

She closed her eyes. "Don't know what his name is. Big Japanese guy. Fights with swords. Fucking swords, for fucks sake, who fights with swords?"

There was a brief pause. "Any tattoos?"

"I don't-" she paused. "Wait. Yeah, I think so. Like, a sleeve?"

"Sounds like Jyunichi. Ronin enforcer. You said Johnny's still alive?"

"Well." Kate managed. "No one's told me otherwise so far."

"He won't be happy about that."

"You think he might come after him again?" she asked.

"Just – be careful."

She sighed. "Thanks."

"You sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Close enough to it, I think."

"There's going to be some media interest," he said. "So – be ready for that."

"Yeah. You need anything else?"

"Good for now," he said. "Look - Johnny's a tough son of a bitch. He's gonna make it."

She laughed, but it caught in her throat. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, he's – thanks."

"Take care," he said.

"Troy," she began, but he'd gone. She slid her phone into her pocket and went back inside.

She sat down next to Carlos, and was brushing dark flakes of dried blood off her skin when the nurse with the bun approached her.

"Your friend is out of surgery," she said. "And he's in a stable condition."

Her eyes widened. "Can I see him?" she asked.

The nurse folded her arms. "He's not going to be conscious for hours," she said. "I would suggest you go home, get some rest, and come back when visiting hours open at 7:30 am."

Kate was exhausted. She glanced towards down the hallway, towards the wards. "Yeah," she said. "Alright."

"And one final thing," said the nurse. "Does Mr Gat have current medical insurance?"

Kate laughed. She couldn't help it, and it came out low and a little hysterical. "I really doubt it," she said. "I'll take care of the bill."

She nudged Carlos with her elbow as the nurse walked away.

"Hmm?" He looked up at her dazedly.

"Johnny's-" she hesitated. "Alive. I'm going to come back in in the morning."

He blinked sleepily at her. "Okay," he said, standing up. "You need a ride home?"

They began to walk towards the exit. "I was just going to get a taxi," she said. "There's always a couple hanging round the hospital."

"Anything else you need?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Actually. I need some cleaners sent round to Johnny's before he gets out of hospital, he can't go back to that. They might even need to rip up the carpets and – and wallpaper."

"Okay," he said. "Are you alright?"

"Am I acting like I'm not?" Kate asked. "Serious question."

"Yeah, a little," he said. "Like right now when you talk to me you don't look _at_ me, you look _through_ me."

She looked down. "I don't know," she said. "Maybe I'm not really processing it properly."

"Do-" Carlos hesitated. "Do you want me to come back with you?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No, I – I'm okay. Thanks."

She reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, but the breath was knocked out of her when he hugged her tightly instead.

She wrapped her arms around him gently. "Thanks," she whispered, as she drew back. "I – I'll call you tomorrow. Okay?"

He held up a hand in farewell as she got into a taxi and started down the road.

* * *

She was back at the hospital first thing in the morning, showered and blood-free, with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and eyes bleary and pink.

She could feel her heart pounding as she followed the nurse's directions to his room. The walls were white and the floor was a pale grey, and it smelled like disinfectant.

She hesitated for a moment outside, then before she could change her mind, stepped through the door.

Johnny was lying on the bed, eyes closed. He was sleeping. Maybe she should come back later, when-

He opened his eyes. "Katie," he said, hoarsely. "Is it you this time?"

She took a step into the room. "This time?" she asked.

His torso was tightly bandaged, red blotches seeping through. "Don't know what they've put me on," he said. "Seen some – fucked up shit."

She walked into the room and sat down on the chair next to the bed. "Yeah. It's me."

"Katie – no one will give me a straight answer around here." He struggled to sit up. "She's dead, isn't she."

Her throat constricted. He wasn't wearing his glasses, they were folded up on the table next to the bed, and without them he looked somehow vulnerable. She held his gaze, though it took some effort. "Yeah," she said. "She is. I'm – sorry."

"Yeah," he repeated, quietly. "I think – think I knew it, really."

"How do – um, how's your – sword thing?" she asked.

"Sword thing," Johnny said, under his breath. "Can't feel a fucking thing. What does it matter?"

"We're going to kill them," she said. "Okay? All of them."

"Yeah," he said, half-heartedly. "Yeah, we are." He was staring at the wall, eyes distant.

They sat for almost a minute in silence.

"You know," said Johnny, suddenly, looking up at her. "She died trying to save me. _Me_. As if I'd ever done anything that made me worth saving."

"She loved you," Kate said, quietly.

"Yeah," he said. "And look where it fuckin' got her." He closed his eyes. "I just – she grew up on the Row, you know? I've known her all my life. I always thought she was gonna – gonna be there."

She swallowed the lump in her throat, and reached out a hand to cover his. It curled into a fist.

"I was – was meant to be the one who'd protect her," he continued. "The one who'd never let her down. And she died because of me."

"I'm sorry," she said, close to tears. She pressed a hand to her mouth. "I'm so sorry."

"Kid," said Johnny, unsteadily. "I really – _really_ – need you to be the strong one right now, because-"

There was a rattle of gunfire from the floor below. The lights went out for a moment, before the dimmer emergency lights took over.

Kate leapt to her feet to look out the window. Ronin were swarming the hospital entrance below. "Shit," she said. "Tr – _fuck_. I thought this might happen. Can you walk?"

"Sure th-" Johnny tried to lift himself off the bed, but turned white and slumped back against the pillows.

"Okay, stay there," she said. "I'll get you one of those wheely things." She ran down to the nurse's bay, grabbed a spare gurney, and pushed it back to Johnny's room.

"Alright," she said, as she wheeled it up to his bed and stared at it. "How do I – I feel like I have to lift you onto this so you don't like, rip all your stitches out."

He looked up at her dubiously. "I really don't think this is going to work."

"It has to." She leaned over the gurney and grabbed him by his arms, heaving him towards her. He hissed in pain, but she managed to get him onto it. His fists were clenched as she wheeled him out of the room and down to the elevator.

"Why are we going up?" he asked, as the doors closed and the elevator began to move. "Katie, why are we going up?"

"It's quicker," she said.

The doors opened onto the hospital roof, and she pushed him out of the elevator towards the hospital's helicopter.

" _No_ ," he said, as she pushed him closer. "No way. Katie, no. I'll take my chances with the Ronin."

"You don't even have a gun," she said. "And you can barely move."

"Doesn't matter," he said, hoisting himself up on his elbows. "Can you even fly one of these?"

"Yes." She pushed the bed of the gurney into the side of the helicopter, then hopped into the cockpit.

"Bullshit," said Johnny. She could barely hear him over the sound of the rotor blades starting up.

"It's true," she yelled back. "Well, kind of true."

"Katie, don't you fucking do this," he said, but the helicopter was already lifting off.

"We're good," she called back to Johnny.

"Just watch the fucking sky," he said. "Where are we going?"

"Uh-" She thought for a moment. "My apartment. I don't know if HQ is secure enough. And it'll be hard for you to get into. Too many stairs."

He didn't reply.

She watched the buildings shrink as they rose into the air. They seemed to have gotten away.

She wrinkled her nose as a thought struck her. "They're probably going to add this to your bill," she yelled. "Christ you're expensive."

There was a strong breeze blowing as she descended to the landing pad. They skidded, slightly, across the concrete, but she managed to stop it before they drifted off the edge of the helipad.

Johnny had his eyes closed when she opened the side door.

"You alright?" she asked tentatively.

"I can't believe I'm still alive," he said, opening an eye.

Kate laughed as she hauled him out of the helicopter. She could feel the tenseness in his body as she half-carried him inside.

"Were you on painkillers?" she asked. "Morphine?"

"Something like that," he said, his voice strained.

She nudged open the bedroom door with a foot. "You can stay in here for now," she said. "I-"

"You have a fucking rotating bed?" he asked.

"It – it came with the apartment?" She helped him onto the bed.

"Bullshit," he said, wincing as he tried to find a comfortable position.

"It was – an optional upgrade," she said. "I'm going to call Shaundi."

She backed out of the room, pulling her phone from her pocket. "Shaundi," said Kate. "How good are your hookups? Er, with reference to drugs, I mean."

"The best, baby girl," said Shaundi. "What do you need?"

"I just picked Johnny up from hospital," she said.

"Oh, great," said Shaundi. "I didn't know he was okay to leave yet."

"Yeah, he's not," said Kate. " So I'm going to need some morphine - heroin is not an okay substitute on that by the way - and probably some benzodiazepines."

"No problem," said Shaundi. "I know a couple pharmacology students. Any preference on the benzos?"

"Uh - personally I would go with lorazepam and then clonazepam as a close second. Valium if nothing else is available but it's definitely a distant third."

"A connoisseur," said Shaundi. "Impressive. I'll make a few calls and get back to you soon."

"Don't get high and forget, okay?" Kate said. "Drop what you're doing. Johnny's in a lot of pain."

"Got it," said Shaundi. "Talk to you soon."

Shaundi was there within thirty minutes. "I feel like the Christmas fairy," she said with a forced smile, handing Kate two plastic pill bottles. "How's Johnny?"

Kate looked at her for a little too long, then sighed. "Not great," she said. "Everything's kind of just – fucked." She looked down at the pill bottles. "Thanks for these. Want to come see him?"

"Just for a minute," said Shaundi, stepping inside. "Carlos seemed really worried about you."

"Well, last time he saw me I was covered in other people's blood," said Kate, as she led Shaundi up the stairs. "Tell him I'm doing better, alright?"

Johnny looked up when they walked in, but his gaze was unfocused and his breathing rapid.

"Take this," said Shaundi, taking the morphine bottle from Kate and shaking out a tablet. "It goes under your tongue."

He took it, and slowly – agonisingly slowly – seemed to relax. His eyes closed. Shaundi looked at Kate sidelong, alarmed, but Kate just shook her head.

"I'll keep an eye on him," she said, as they left the room. "Let me know if anything happens out there."

Shaundi smiled wanly. "Will do. Call if you need anything."

Kate continued to check on Johnny throughout the day, making sure he took the tablets regularly as the sun drifted across the sky. At almost midnight, she left him and grabbed a spare blanket from a cupboard. She lay down on her couch, which was surprisingly comfortable. She wrapped herself in her blanket and closed her eyes.

She woke up to a harsh, bright light, blinking in confusion. She sat up. She couldn't tell if it was minutes or hours later. "Huh?"

"Sorry," said Johnny, as the room went dark again. "Couldn't figure out which switch does what." He began to walk slowly down the polished wooden stairs, leaning heavily on the hand rail.

"You're not meant to be out of bed," she said sleepily.

"You're not going to go all Misery on me, are you Katie?" he asked.

She snorted. "You mean the Stephen King book? Guess I could pick up a few ideas. Anyway I'm serious, Jesus."

"Don't care," he said. "Can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes-" He didn't finish the thought.

Her stomach twisted itself into a knot. "You okay?" she asked.

He didn't reply, but slowly made his way to the bar and lifted down a bottle of scotch.

"Bring it over here," she said, pulling her knees up onto the couch.

"You were right," he said. "I put her in danger."

"Don't," said Kate quietly.

"The hell not?" he asked. "You said it yourself. She trusted me to take care of her, and I didn't."

"M-maybe you should talk to someone about this," she said. "Like, a professional. Doctor."

He rounded on her. "I'm not fucking crazy, Katie, my fucking girlfriend is dead!"

"Sorry!" she said, desperately. "I just - I don't know how to - how to deal with it, or fix it, or make you feel better."

He sank back into his seat. "You can't," he said.

She reached for the bottle and took a drink.

"I can't believe how fast it happened," he said. "Six years, almost. And now she's gone."

"She had nothing to do with any of this," said Kate. "I just - can't believe they went after her like that."

"She didn't deserve it," he said, reaching for the bottle.

She handed it over. "Yeah," she murmured. "I kind of can't believe it's real. How could - how could that just happen?"

"Are you going to sleep?"

Kate hadn't realised her eyes were closed. "What? No."

"You can," he said. "It's okay."

She shook her head. "Johnny?"

"Mm?"

"You're freaking me out a bit."

"How's that?" He turned to look at her.

"Why aren't you – angrier?"

"Oh, I'm angry," he said. "But I don't want to think about them just yet. I want to think about her for a while."

She took hold of his hand, wordlessly. He squeezed it once.


	31. Knights

Kate sat crosslegged on her bed, carefully unwrapping the bloodstained bandages from Johnny's chest. Music from the stereo was playing downstairs, almost out of hearing range. She was working slowly, a little apprehensive at what the wound might look like underneath.

"Can you not go any faster?" Johnny asked, shifting impatiently.

"I don't want to hurt you," she said.

"You can literally not hurt me by doing what you are doing right now."

"What if it's like, when you rip a bandage off really fast and it really hurts?" she asked.

"It's _better_ when you rip it off really fast," he said.

"No it isn't," she said. "You pull off the stuff that's healing too and it just makes everything worse."

He didn't reply, and she worked quietly for almost a minute.

You fucking choked," said Johnny, after a while. "The other day. Thought you were meant to be a good shot."

"What?" Kate asked, looking up. "When? Oh. You mean after you got stabbed?"

"Yeah," he said. "We could have got him."

Her hands stopped moving. "I'm surprised I didn't shoot you, to be honest," she said. "Because seeing that sword come out of your back was probably the worst thing I've ever seen and I wanted to throw up."

"Really?" he asked. "Pussy."

She sighed. "Shut up," she said. "I just remember looking at the fucking sword, and the blood starting to soak through your shirt, and just – just thinking it was all my fault."

"Huh?" he asked. "How's that?"

"Well – I distracted you," she said, looking down.

"Oh," he said. "That was my fault. Shit, I knew there was a guy with a sword in front of me."

"Yeah, but if I hadn't said anything you wouldn't have turned around."

He shrugged. "Still alive, aren't I? No big deal."

"But-" she began.

"Seriously, Katie – it doesn't matter," he said, impatiently. "Just drop it, okay? Don't do it again or some shit like that."

Kate began to unwrap the bandages again, peeling away the strips down to the skin unwound the last bandage from Johnny's torso and stared at the stab wound. It was a fairly clean incision – even though Johnny had probably done some more damage pulling the sword out again – and it was stitched up neatly with black thread.

"So what do you think?" he asked.

She leaned forward a little more. "Turn around?"

"Why don't you just turn the rotating bed on?" he asked.

She glared, and got off the bed so she could check his back. The exit wound was smaller. She settled herself in front of him again. "I don't know how you're still alive," she said.

"Give me some fucking credit," he said. "I'm harder to kill than that."

"Oh, I know," she said. "I'm just – I'm so sure he must have hit something important in there." She placed a fingertip against his ribcage, and started to draw a line along his side where the blade had passed through.

He flinched at her touch, and she pulled her hand back to her chest rapidly. "Sorry," she said.

He shook his head impatiently. "What does it matter?" he asked.

"Well – he knows what he's doing with that sword." She leaned forward again to look at his wound, but not as closely as before. "And so do you, somehow, but that's not the point."

"You'd be surprised what I know how to fight with," he said.

She smiled faintly. "I doubt it," she said. "But what I'm having trouble with is why he delivered a non-killing blow, left, and then sent some guys along later to finish the job. Was it an accident? I don't get it."

"Katie," said Johnny. "I don't fucking care. How does it look?"

She sighed. "Well, it's not, like, red-looking and it doesn't look like there's any swelling. How does it feel? Like is it hot or anything?"

He shrugged. "It's fine."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, well, I don't actually know. I'm not sure if you're meant to be on antibiotics or some shit like that for something this bad."

"Are you telling me you never studied medicine?" Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because you have literally fucking studied everything else."

"No, never did," she said, laughing. "The dead – the dead bodies freaked me out."

"Are you fucking serious?" He laughed as well, then winced in pain. "They freaked you out?"

Her laughter faded gradually. "I was – a little different in college. From now, I mean."

"So what happened?"

She looked away. "It's – complicated," she said. "Oh hey, someone's calling m- oh. It's Pierce."

She lifted the phone to her ear. "I don't even want to deal with you right now," she said, as she left the room and began to walk down the stairs.

"So, what, you're just not going to talk to me ever again?" said Pierce

Kate sighed irritably into the phone. "It's not that I'm not talking to you, Pierce, it's that when I do talk to you all I can think about it beating your face in with a shovel."

"Look, I said I was sorry, man! I didn't mean to say it like that."

"Yes, I know you're sorry," said Kate. "That still doesn't change the way I'm feeling. You know-" She licked her lips thoughtfully. "It'd be one of those huge shovels, the ones that about five feet tall and really heavy, so you have to stamp on them to get them into the ground? And, you see, I'm not really that strong so I'd have to swing it like a baseball bat, right, for the momentum, and the sound it would make when it hit your face is kind of a _wet crunch_ , maybe combined with a kind of metallic clang as the whole thing reverberates-"

"Okay!" said Pierce. "I get it, Katie. Really."

"It's _Kate_ ," she snapped. "To you."

"Jesus," he said. "Fine. But I got something for you."

Kate paused. "Do you?"

"I do indeed. Some big shot Ronin just arrived into town. Apparently we've done enough to mess up their operations for them to bring in the big guns."

"Who's this meant to be?" she asked.

"Shogo's father."

"I feel like someone's told me who Shogo is at this point but I don't really remember."

"Shogo," said Pierce. "Would be the boss."

"Who are you talking to?" Johnny yelled down from upstairs.

"Pierce has something on the Ronin!" she yelled back.

"What is it?"

She sighed and started back up the stairs. "His dad's come to visit him," she said, leaning against the bedroom doorway.

"Really?" He pushed himself up onto his elbows and sat back against the pillows. "That's interesting."

She sighed again. "Okay," she admitted. "That's pretty good. Look, I'm probably coming in. Let's talk about it later."

"Okay," he said. "Glad you're talking to me again."

"Shut up," she said, hanging up.

"What are you so mad at Pierce about, anyway?" Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "He – said something that made me angry," she said.

"That is really, really _not_ hard to do," said Johnny. "What was it?"

"It – doesn't even matter," said Kate. "It's dumb. Never mind. I'm going to go in to the HQ."

"I'm coming with you," said Johnny, climbing out of bed carefully.

"Stop it!" she said, walking hurriedly towards him. "You can't. You're not even meant to be out of hospital and I'm honestly not even sure you shouldn't be in some kind of pain management coma."

"I'm,-" he winced. "Fine. What the fuck am I going to do here?"

"I don't know, sleep?" she said. "Relax and don't hurt yourself?"

"I'm sick of looking at these fucking walls," he said. "There's nothing to do here."

"You won't be able to do anything there either," she said, turning towards the door. "You're not coming."

"Katie, don't you leave me in this apartment," he said.

There was a wild edge in his tone that made her hesitate. She turned back. "F-fine," she said. "Christ, you're so fucking demanding. I'll get a doctor to come see you down at HQ. Can you walk okay?" She took a step towards him.

"Not – great," he said, pushing himself off the bed and taking hold of the arm she offered. "Still, if you can break out of jail after being in a coma for five years I can manage a few steps."

"You are seriously the toughest son of a bitch I know," she said.

"Don't talk about my mother like that," he said lightly.

* * *

The HQ was still quiet and dark as Kate half-carried Johnny down the stairs. They really did need a recruitment drive. She helped Johnny onto one of the couches, and headed back up to her room for a change of clothes.

Carlos caught up with her as she walked along the deserted corridor. "Hey," he said. "How are you guys going?"

She blinked, startled. "Um. Bit of a mess," she admitted. "Really. I – I guess Johnny's okay. Even if-" She bit down on her lip, hard.

Carlos took hold of her hand, gently. "Katie," he said, quietly.

"Don't," she said. "Please. I don't want to be like this."

"It's okay," he said, quietly.

"No, I can't – I can't do this," she said, disengaging her hand and taking a step backwards. "In front of other people, I mean."

"You think of me as 'other people'?"

"Well you qualify as 'people who aren't me', so, yes, basically," she said, uneasily.

"You don't trust anyone?" he asked.

"Pretty much."

"Not even Johnny?" he continued.

She smiled uncomfortably. "Not with everything. Look – did you ever find a doctor we could use? I'm pretty sure Johnny should be taking antibiotics, I'm not sure if he should even be walking, and I didn't swipe his medical notes on the way home from the hospital."

He looked away. "Yeah," he said. "Whatever. I'll give him a call." He began to walk down the corridor, away from her.

"Thanks," she said.

He didn't turn back.

She watched him until he turned the corner, then went into her room. Her phone rang, as she was rifling through the old chest of drawers, and she answered it without looking at it.

"What's up?" she said.

"You want the man that hurt your friend?" It was a man's voice, smooth and neutral.

"Who is this?" asked Kate.

"Jyunichi will be at Kanto tonight. If you want revenge, it's yours to take."

"And what's your interest in this?" she asked, but he'd already hung up.

She ran back down the stairs. "Johnny," she called. "Holy shit, Johnny. Someone just sold out the guy who – who stabbed you. Kanto tonight."

His eyes widened, and he tried to stand up, but grunted in pain.

"You want me to wait?" she asked. "Until you're better?"

He grimaced. "No," he said. "You go. You got a time and a place. Who knows when we'll have that again."

"Alright," she said. "See you soon."

"Take someone with you," he said, as she was about to run up the stairs. "For fuck's sake."

She looked around at the empty room.

Johnny followed her gaze. "Then – just don't-" he began.

"It's alright," said Carlos, emerging from the stairwell. "We can take them."

She looked at him for a moment. "Alright," she said, and followed him up the stairs into the sunlight.

Carlos drove in silence. He didn't even look at her. Kate could feel his tension, his anger, but decided it was easier this way, easier to ignore it so she could get stuff done rather than dragging everything into the open.

Kanto was a sushi restaurant on the waterfront in her old haunt of Rebadeaux, all rice paper and dark wood and tatami mats. Her presence was noted, quietly, but she wasn't challenged until she walked inside and made her way down to the bottom floor.

Jyunichi stood up when he saw her, moving with an almost-unearthly grace. He took the sword of the man sitting next to him, lowered it to the ground, and gave it a nudge with his foot to send it spinning across the floor to her. He unsheathed both of his own swords and nodded towards her.

"Die with some honour," he said.

"Oh, honey." Kate didn't even move to pick it up. "I can't fucking fight with a sword." She pulled the pistol from the back of her waistband and shot Jyunichi twice in the chest.

The room erupted in gunfire. She grinned.


	32. Everybody Wants To Rule The World

The countdown to the funeral hung over them as the week progressed. Carlos had found them a doctor, who was visiting Johnny intermittently. Kate could hardly bear to talk to any of them.

She was sitting on the back step of the headquarters, looking out into the darkness of the old city, when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Hey," said Carlos. "How you going?"

"I'm thinking of getting tattoos of people that have died because of me," she said. "What do you think, faces or just names? Faces from photos can go so bad."

"You been drinking?" he asked. "Katie?"

"You don't know how to tell by now?" she asked.

His eyes flickered. "She didn't die because of you," he said quietly.

Kate looked down at her nails, ragged and short. "I don't want to talk to you about this," she said. "I want to talk to Donnie."

"What, because you don't think I understand?" Carlos snapped.

His tone made her jerk her head up in surprise.

"You think I never got anyone hurt before? Never lost anyone I care about?" His dark eyes were burning with intensity. "Whatever." He turned to leave.

Kate covered her eyes with a hand. She could hear his footsteps echoing on the marble staircase, and stood up, but by that time it was too late to follow him. She sat down on one of the couches inside, instead.

"What was that about?"

She opened her eyes to see Pierce looking at her curiously, leaning over the back of the couch opposite. "Pierce, I'm going to stab you in the kidney," she said. "That's what it was about."

Pierce blinked at her calmly. "You're kind of a bitch sometimes," he said. "You know that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, no shit."

He sat down on the couch. "So how come?"

"Because fuck you, that's why," she said.

"Yo, Katie." She looked up to see Johnny emerge from one of the back rooms. "Chill out, would you?"

"Whatever," she said, as he sat down next to her.

She heard clipped footsteps on the stairs, and turned. A man in a well-cut grey suit was picking his way down the marble hotel stairs.

"Are you fucking serious?" she said, looking towards Johnny. "Again? Why can people just fucking walk in here?" She narrowed her eyes. "What the fuck is this one about?"

"Terribly sorry." said the man, smiling. "Did I come at a bad time, perhaps?"

Johnny levelled a flat gaze at him. "It's Dane Vogel," he said. "Asshole who gave Dex a job."

"Pleased to meet you," said Vogel. "You won't mind if I don't shake hands?"

"Who's Dex?" asked Pierce.

"Fuckin' sellout," said Johnny.

Kate narrowed her eyes. "Head of security, if I remember correctly," she said, tapping her fingers against the bar. "Did you tell Dex you were coming down here, Mr Vogel? Because, the way I see it, either he trusts us a lot more than I really think he sensibly should, or you didn't tell him."

He flashed a grin. "I'm afraid I can't discuss security issues," he said.

"Interesting," she said. "So what could you possibly bring you down here? I assume you're not here for the atmosphere."

"Inviting though it is," he said. "No, I've come about a business proposal."

"Even more interesting," said Kate. "Won't you take a seat?"

Vogel gave the couches a dubious glance, but took the offered seat on the unoccupied couch.

"Are you seriously going to listen to this asshole?" asked Johnny.

"I'll hear anyone out," she said, mildly.

"That's very reasonable of you," said Vogel, tenting his fingers. "I'm here to offer you the Ronin."

"Dispensing largesse from on high," said Kate, sneering faintly. "And in return?"

He spread his hands wide. "There is no 'in return'. The Ronin have become – a problem. They've lost an element of stability, and that doesn't look good for our bottom line. We'd rather close that whole thing down before things destabilise further. It's a win-win situation. And we may be able to help each other in future." He leaned forward and handed over the address on a slip of paper.

"How do we know this isn't a trap?" asked Johnny, leaning forward.

"Simple," said Vogel. "I'll stay here until you return."

"Seriously?" she asked.

"Of course."

She nodded, and turned to Johnny. "Are you okay to come along on this one?" she asked. "I don't want you ripping out your stitches or something."

"Wouldn't miss it," he said grimly.

"Alright," she said, "Go upstairs and start the car, would you?"

"You sure we can't just kill him right now?" asked Johnny, sighting down the barrel of his gun at Vogel.

"We'll see how this goes first," she said, gently. "I'll be up soon."

She watched him as he climbed the stairs, and then looked over at Pierce. "Would you just go stand somewhere out there for a minute?" she asked, waving at the dark city outside the oasis of the headquarters. "I'll call you when I'm leaving."

"Fine," said Pierce, irritably. "Shit, you couldn't even be bothered thinking up a plausible way to get me to leave."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Well, basically," she said. "It's only for a minute, Christ."

She turned back to Vogel as he walked away. "What I want to know is," she said, leaning forward. "Why do all this yourself? You're placing a lot of faith in a group of criminals you've never met before. Surely you have people you could send instead."

"I find the personal touch really goes a long way," he said, nonchalantly.

"Don't think I don't appreciate it," she said, grinning. "It's a hell of a show of good faith. And confidence in our abilities. I just can't help wondering – what do you get out of it?" She tilted her head contemplatively. "Is it a superiority thing? You get to come down here in a six thousand dollar suit and think to yourself about how much better than us you are?"

He smiled widely. "Well aren't you precious," he said.

"Or maybe," she continued. "You deal with us yourself because you like being scared. You like not knowing what's going to happen next." She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, over the table. "You like feeling like you're not in total control, for once in your life. We could do anything to you down here, and there's nothing anyone up there could do to stop us."

Vogel smiled. "Psych 101's not going to get you far with me, I'm sorry to say."

She ignored him. "There are people who can take care of needs like that in far less – physically dangerous ways, you know," she murmured. "And they're quite discreet."

"I do hope you're not offering your own services," he said.

She grinned. "I do have interests in a number of businesses of that type," she said. "So, not my own personal services, but – you know what I mean." She shrugged. "You know where to find us, I guess."

She stood up. "Pierce!" she called out.

He came back in obediently.

"Keep an eye on him, would you?" she said. "I'll call when we're done. If you haven't heard from us in, say, four hours, you're probably good to kill him."

"That's a long time," said Pierce.

"Thought I should factor in some buffer time," she said.

"That's very thoughtful of you," said Vogel.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "See you later." She turned to Pierce. "Call me if anything happens."

Johnny was waiting for her out the front in his car in the dimming sunlight. She got into the passenger seat and he began to drive.

"You trust him?" he asked.

"No," she said, frowning. "But I don't see how this could be a trap, given his current situation. And he'd been planning on offering to stay, as well, that's not just something he thought up." She paused. "Well – I guess it could kind of be a trap by getting the both of us out of the HQ at the same time so it'd be more or less undefended."

She felt the car begin to slow as Johnny took his foot off the accelerator. "You want me to turn around?"

"Uh – no. I think that'd still be too risky for him. He could get hit pretty easily if there's a firefight down there. I told Pierce to call if there are any problems. Pretty sure we're okay on this one at the moment."

He glanced at her sideways. "You sure?"

"No," she said, anxiously. "I'll text Pierce and tell him Vogel dies first if anything goes down. And to tell him about it. Fuck. Not the best first impression but better late than never, I guess."

"Why do you even fuckin' care about what kind of first impression we're making?" Johnny hit the accelerator again, making the car leap forward.

"Mostly because he has a lot of money and I would like some or all of it," she said, focusing on her phone. "Also, do they have their own security force? Something's weird about the police cars down by – by where Third Street used to be."

"You been down there?" asked Johnny. "It's fucked up."

She sent the text message and put her phone away. "It – it was the first place I went. I didn't even mean to, I just ended up down there because it was close to where I got off the boat and I was – I don't know. Lost and confused. I couldn't even figure out where the streets used to be."

"They changed a lot," he said. "I haven't been back since – well, since you busted me out."

"Fucked up," she said. "Yeah."

They rounded a corner and pulled up to the kerb.

"You alright?" she said, looking at Johnny. He was staring at the building next to them. It was tall, and grey, with the words 'Tohoku Towers' on the front in bright neon lettering twenty feet high.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm looking forward to this."

"What do you want to do with this place?" she asked.

He turned to look at her. "Blow it up?"

"You know what?" she said. "We haven't done that for a while, why not? Shaundi has a bomb guy, but I'm going to have to like, text him too." She grimaced as she pulled out her phone again. "This is not a well-fucking organised plan, Jesus Christ."

He shrugged. "Making things up as I go has always worked for me."

She finished the message and dropped the phone into her lap. "Didn't you end up on death row?" she asked.

"Yeah, well, maybe that time it didn't work for me. But all the other times it did."

She slumped down in her seat and looked over at him. "It does seem improbable that you're still alive," she said. "So maybe you're onto something. Shit, I still haven't paid your medical bill. It's going to be like a million dollars, too. Also they're going to be mad about that helicopter we took."

"What's with all the civic responsibility?" he asked. "You running for mayor or something?"

She gave him a flat stare. "Well, yes, I think my half assed attempt at managing a gang has made me eminently qualified for running a city."

He grinned. "I'd vote for you. I could probably find ways of making other people vote for you too."

"Aww," she said. "That's actually kind of sweet." The phone buzzed in her lap, and she picked it up. "Okay, Shaundi says ten minutes." She stared down at the message. "That is insanely quick, does this guy just have these lying around in his house or some shit?"

"Might pay to find out where that is," said Johnny.

"I know, right?" she said. "Wouldn't want to blow it up by accident. Christ, I hope it's not, like, near the fucking headquarters underground somewhere." She leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes.

“You need to chill out about Pierce," he said.

"Why, is it making him sad?"

"Look at it like this," said Johnny. "He's your lieutenant. If you got a problem with him, you either get rid of him or you get over it. Anything else fucks up the dynamic."

"Hm" she said. "Yeah, okay, I get it." She sighed. "How's the stab thing healing?"

"Stab thing?"

"Technical term."

He almost laughed. "It's alright. Itches."

"I think itching is good," she said.

"You wanna try it, then?"

"Not really," said Kate, turning her head to look at him. "I'm – glad you're alive, though."

"Shut up."

She grinned.

A couple of minutes later a purple car pulled up behind them.

"That our guy?" asked Johnny, as a man got out, carrying a large backpack.

"Looks like it," said Kate, opening the car door and getting out.

"Fireworks show planned?" the man asked, handing over the bag.

"Gonna be a big one," said Kate. "How far away would we have to be to get the best view?"

"You should be fine crossing the street," he said. "Depending on how you place them. Further away's always better, though. In my opinion."

"And how long do we have after we set them?" she asked.

"Should be fifteen," he said. "Aim for ten."

She grimaced. "That's a little short."

"Well," he said. "When you want something at late notice, this is what you have to work with."

"Guess so." She shrugged. "Thanks for your help."

Johnny was already waiting by the door to the building. She raised an eyebrow at him, pulled out her gun, and pushed it open. The inside of the building was open through the centre of the building right up to the top, the floors above them looking down over the lobby.

The lobby was dotted with chairs, with bamboo plants in large planters and an artificial pond running around the edges, complete with stones and reeds, and punctuated with low, decorative bridges.

"Always appreciate a good water feature," she said, looking down into one of the pools at her own reflection. "You know?" She looked up, but Johnny was already striding towards the nearest person in yellow, his pistol raised. She grabbed for her gun belatedly as the shooting started.

People dived under tables, and Kate had to dodge back behind a wooden pillar as a swarm of terrified people ran for the door behind them.

She leaned out to shoot, but only managed to fire two shots off before she began to draw fire and had to pull back. She crouched, and began to make her way around the side of the room, trying to flank the Ronin. She managed to hit one in the thigh, then in the side, before pausing to watch Johnny. He wasn't even trying to use cover, ignoring the bullets the Ronin fired at him, calmly and carefully firing until all of them were dead.

She stood up. "You alright?" she asked, carefully.

"Mm-hmm," he said tightly. "Where now?"

"Christ," she said. "You want to split up here? I could go set the bombs while you clear the ground floor."

He thought for a second. "Nah," he said. "All going to end up the same way in the end. I'll stick with you. Cover your ass while you're setting the bombs."

She frowned slightly. "Alright," she said. "Let's head up top first and work our way back down. Gets us out at the ground when we need to be."

"Let's go," he said.

They made their way down through the floors, planting bombs more or less where Kate thought looked 'kind of structural', Johnny covering her while she set them to explode.

"Thanks," she said, as she finished the last one. "Okay, we're on like, what, level two? Got a few minutes, but let's leave now."

They ran down the last remaining floors and leapt into Johnny's car. They were only a couple of blocks away before they heard the explosion echo through the streets, rattling the windows of the buildings around them. As she looked back, Kate could see smoke and flames rising from the tower.

"Huh," she said. "Better than I'd thought." She turned to Johnny. "What do you think?"

The flames were reflecting off his glasses. "It's not enough," he said.

"Oh." She turned back around in her seat. "Okay, we can work on that. Let's go let Vogel out."

"Do we have to?"

She smiled. "He's playing nice with us, we play nice with him."

"So maybe later?" he asked.

She gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Yeah, maybe later."

Johnny floored the accelerator, and they sped off back to the headquarters.

Vogel was waiting where they'd left him, and to his credit didn't look any more uncomfortable in their headquarters than he must have looked in the boardroom.

"And you're good to go," she said. "Thanks for the help. I'm sure you'll be in touch."

"It's been a pleasure doing business," he said, and then paused. "I heard you moved the homeless people who lived here along. Subterranean gentrification. I approve thoroughly. Shows we're not so different, doesn't it?"

She forced a smile, though her teeth were clenched. "You act like a character straight out of a motherfucking Bret Easton Ellis novel," she said.

"I do have a very nice business card," Vogel admitted. "I'll leave one on the table. But – forgive me for saying this, but you don't seem much like the thug I've heard so much about."

She smiled. "I didn't choose the thug life, Mr Vogel," she said, smiling.

"Of course not," he said. "It chose you. And now, if our business is concluded." He stood, and began to walk towards the stairs.

"Give my regards to Dex," said Kate, carefully.

He paused.

"No sarcastic intonations necessary," she continued. "I wish him all the best. He was always an ambitious boy. Tell him – tell him I'll be watching his career with interest."

Vogel gave her a curious, sidelong look. "I shall," he said. "Thanks. Feel free to drop by any time to say hi."

"Yeah," she said. "I might."


	33. Chapter 33

Kate checked the directory listing again. She was sitting in her apartment, feet in the pool under the stairs. There was a phonebook in her lap, and her cellphone was lying on top of it. Carefully, she entered the numbers and hit the 'call' button. She felt her heart begin to pound as the phone began to ring.

"Welcome to Ultor Unlimited," said the voice on the other end. It was female, but neutral, and had a robotic quality that sounded like it might not have been human.

"Dexter Jackson's office, please," she said.

"One moment, please."

She heard maybe two bars of a song she vaguely recognised before the call was picked up again.

"Dexter Jackson's office, Katie speaking," a woman's voice chirped.

There was a pause. "W-what?" asked Kate.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman said. "This is Dexter Jackson's office and you're speaking with Katie."

"I – alright, sorry," Kate said. "Could I speak to Dex, please?"

"Is he expecting your call?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he is," said Kate.

"Alright." There was a note of hesitation in her voice. "I will see if he is free to take the call. Could I have your name, please?"

"Um. Kate."

"Thanks for your patience."

Kate closed her eyes as the hold music began again. The song finished, and she was halfway through the next when the phone picked back up, suddenly.

"This is Dexter Jackson," a familiar voice said, carefully. "Kate – is that you?"

"You have an assistant called _Katie_?" Kate asked. "Bro that's so fucked up."

"I – what?"

"Seriously, that's weird. Did you, like, hire her yourself? Did you do it on purpose?"

"Are you kidding?" asked Dex. "Have you just never met anyone with the same first name as you before?"

Kate ignored the question. "Does she look like me?"

"What? I don't know," he said. "Maybe? Jesus Christ, Kate, I-"

"You don't know because we all look the same to you?" Kate continued.

"I-" he began, but cut it off abruptly. He took a deep breath. "You know," he said, after a moment. "After I'd heard you were back, I'd thought we might speak. This isn't really how I imagined this conversation would go."

She laughed. "Sorry to mess up your schedule, Mr Jackson," she said. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

"I can spare a few minutes," he said dryly. "Look. Katie – _Kate_ – before we go any further, I've been wondering about this for a while– what the hell have you got on Troy?"

"Troy?" she repeated. "Nothing. What? Why?"

"Because he's shilling for the Saints on the nightly news, that's why."

"I didn't ask him to do that," she said. "None of that's me. I mean, yeah, we've talked, but that's it."

"That's it?" he repeated.

"Oh my god," she said. "Yes, that's it. You're going to have to ask him any follow up questions you might have."

"Does Johnny know?"

She paused for a moment. "I like how your mind goes straight to assessing for weaknesses," she said. "I mean, that's a talent."

"Just wondering."

"Yeah," said Kate, running a hand over her face. "Hey – Dex. Did you know Troy was a cop?"

There was a long silence before Dex answered. "I – suspected. Nothing ever got confirmed until – until too late."

"Why didn't you say anything?" she asked.

"Well, why don't you try accusing one of the higher-ranked lieutenants of the gang you're in of being a cop," he said. "Without any evidence. See where that gets you."

Kate sighed. "Jesus. What a mess," she said. "Guess it was kind of doomed from the start."

"Think so," said Dex.

"You came out of it pretty well," said Kate. "You're about the only one who did."

"Yeah," he said. "I was lucky."

"You know," she said. "Johnny's kind of mad about it still, but I'm kind of – well, proud is kind of the wrong word and it comes across as a little condescending. Impressed? Maybe."

"What?" he asked.

"What you've done with your life. I'm just – I don't know. I mean, god knows you were too smart to be setting up drive-bys for the rest of your life. You got out. And you did a fucking good job of it, too."

There was a long silence.

"Yeah," he said, finally. "Yeah. I guess. Thanks." He paused briefly. "Look – this isn't a great line to talk on right now. Why don't you meet me at the church?"

"The church?" she asked. "What, like, now?"

"Let's say – eight. It'll be quiet that late."

"Really?" she asked. "Well – okay. See you then."

* * *

The church was empty when she pushed open the double doors at the entrance. The candles around the room flickered in the breeze, and she closed the doors again behind her. There was still something unsettling about the church – it was too different, too quiet. She'd _liked_ the crumbling masonry and multi-coloured stained glass windows with a piece or two missing. Instead there was smooth marble and the stained glass had been replaced with identical blue panes. It was _corporate_. There was, though, a purple carpet that ran down the middle between the aisles, and purple curtains above the altar. That must have been intentional.

She climbed the curving staircase up to the second floor. This time she took a wide berth around Julius' recorded messages. She had one hand on the railing of the mezzanine overlooking the floor below as she made a quick circuit. The second floor hadn't existed – or at least hadn't been accessible – when she had been there the first time around.

No one was upstairs, so she headed back down, and took a seat in a second-row pew. She looked at her phone. Ten past eight. Maybe he wasn't going to show. She wouldn't be surprised if he didn't.

Behind her, she heard a quiet click as the door opened and closed again. She looked over her shoulder, to see a figure walking down the side of the church towards her. She stood up as he approached.

"I didn't think you were going to come," she said. Dex was wearing a sharp grey suit. His hair had been cut shorter. His eyes were still the same.

He gave her a tense smile. "I really almost didn't."

"What, you were going to stand me up?" she asked, lightly, leaning against the stone wall of the church. "How rude."

"That wasn't the plan, exactly," he said. "It's – good to see you again."

"You too," she said. "Christ you look different."

"Five years is a long time," he said. "You look – almost the same, actually."

"When were we here last?" she asked, looking around the church. "Was it that time I was really hungover?"

"I think it might have been," he said.

"That was right before – everything turned to shit. Or – well, no, wait." She paused. "Julius had already been picked up by the police by then so it was kind of shit already. I can't believe how fast everything fell apart."

"There was a lot of shit going down at the time that we didn't see," said Dex, quietly.

"Like you getting a job offer?" she asked.

His dark eyes flicked toward her cautiously. "That was – part of it," he said. "There was whatever was going on with the cops after we – after Monroe was killed."

"I still can't believe we did that," she said. "I – Jesus, the last week."

He sighed. "You took all of the punishment for that," he said. "For all of it."

She turned her head to look at him. "Five years is a long time," she said, tightly.

"Yeah, it is," he said, meeting her gaze. "You ever find out who set you up?"

"Why, do you know?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm not completely sure," he said. "But – I know who does know."

"Who?"

"Troy."

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the cool stone.

"I think you could get it out of him," he said.

"Yeah?" she said, eyes still closed. "Any tips?"

He paused for a moment. "Troy is," he said, thoughtfully. "A good man. And I don't say that about many people."

She opened her eyes. Dex was looking at the altar at the front of the room, but his eyes had a faraway cast.

"And I would bet you anything," he continued, slowly. "That he feels personally responsible for getting you blown up. I know he kept you on life support for years and I can't imagine that was popular." His eyes flicked towards her, bright and intense. "Make him feel guilty. Make him feel like he let you down. Act a little vulnerable. Make him think you need his help."

She stared at him. "Jesus Christ, Dex."

"Use it or don't," he said, with a shrug. "Up to you."

She raised an eyebrow. "This is starting to sound a lot like a test," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Mr Jackson."

"It wasn't meant as one," he said. "Ms – uh – I don't know your last name."

"There's a very good reason for that," she said.

"And what would that be?"

"I don't want anyone to know it."

Dex flashed a smile. "If you say so."

She put a hand on her hip. "I also wanted to talk to you about your boss," she said. "You see, he dropped by yesterday."

He seemed to close off. "Yes," he said.

"Did you approve that?"

He looked at her warily. "I – provide advice, which the CEO can follow or not as he sees fit."

"That's kind of what I thought," she said. "That didn't really seem like a Dex plan to me."

"And what's a Dex plan?" he asked.

"It's the opposite to a Johnny plan."

He smiled. For the first time it seemed genuine. "Thanks," he said. "I guess. What'd you say to him?" he asked. "To Vogel. He's been – slightly off ever since he got back."

She winced. "Mm. Sorry – about that," she said. "I just – sometimes when I get mad I just say these things and they tend to make the situation a lot worse."

Dex laughed humourlessly. "Yeah," he said. "I remember that."

"I just said that I'd follow your career with interest, so it wasn't really a direct threat so much as a semi-implied one about trusting his high-level staff?"

"Alright," He nodded, seeming to relax a little. "That's manageable."

"Still can't believe he came down to our place himself," said Kate. "Sick fuck."

"Ye- wait, what?" Dex frowned.

"Well I guess it's not that weird," she said. "All things considered. Everyone's got something kind of strange they're into, right?"

Dex raised an eyebrow. "And what would yours be?"

"Oh," she said laughingly, surprised. "Well, um, okay." She tilted her head to one side. "Maybe you'll find out one day."

He smiled, but it faded from his face quickly. "I've missed you," he said.

"Well I missed you too," she said. "I mean, I was in a coma for most of it but holy shit, it makes a difference not having you around. I don't suppose you do contracting work?"

"You couldn't afford me," he said. "Anyway, you guys seem to be doing alright on your own. I heard you took a gun to a sword fight."

She grinned, covering her mouth with her hand. "Well what was I supposed to do?" she asked. "I can't fucking use a sword. I don't know what he was expecting. You know what he said? 'Die with some honour'." She wrinkled her nose. "I've always felt honour was kind of a nebulous concept."

He raised an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "Outcome's all that really matters."

"Results focused," he said. "Good." He glanced at his watch. "Look – I should go, but there's one more thing I wanted to ask you."

"Shoot."

"Do you know anything about the buildings around here getting sprayed with human waste?"

She laughed, loudly enough for it to echo around the church. "No!" she said. "Sorry. But if I did – guess who would have been behind it?"

"Who?"

"Alderman Hughes' widow."

"Really?" Dex's eyes widened. "That's unexpected. Thanks."

She shrugged. "You give me a tip, I give you a tip," she said. "Are you planning on telling your boss about meeting me here?"

Dex's eyes were unreadable. "Why do you ask?"

She clasped her hands tightly behind her back, nails digging into the back of her hands. "I feel like – it may be beneficial to both of us if we kept it quiet."

He smiled. "Do you know why I picked this place for us to meet?" he asked. "No security cameras."

"Really?" She grinned, her hands relaxing.

"Uh huh. See you round, Katie."

He closed the church doors behind him.


	34. For Real

Kate winced as Donnie took a punch to the stomach and doubled over.

"And we're done!" she announced. She stood up from the marble step she'd been sitting on, and climbed down to the floor. They'd cleared a space behind the couches, where Donnie was standing, bent over with his hands on his knees as he tried to get his breath back. The Saints around him backed away.

"Little early," said Johnny. "Isn't it?"

She turned back, her eyes narrowed. "Is it?" she asked. "Or are you just making a fuss because I didn't let you play?"

He stood up. His grin was savage. "Slightly early," he said. "By my count."

She was uncomfortably aware of the amount of eyes on them. "Save it for the Ronin," she said. "We'll need you for that."

"If you say so," he said. "Boss."

She cast one dubious glance back over her shoulder, before dropping a hand lightly on Donnie's back. "You okay, buddy?" she asked.

"Yeah," he wheezed. "Okay."

"Take any blows to the head?"

"Nothing major," he managed. "Think I'm good."

"Good," she said. "I'm proud of you, okay? You're one of us, now."

"Th-thanks," he said.

She tapped him lightly, again, on the back and turned away to head back up to the surface. Johnny fell into step next to her.

"Still think it was a little early," he said.

"Pretty sure Julius called mine early," she said, once she was sure they were out of earshot of the others.

"He really shouldn't have," said Johnny. "Watching that was hilarious."

She stopped, halfway up the stairs, one hand on a rickety wooden handrail. She turned to look at him. "You got something on your mind, Johnny?" she asked, through clenched teeth.

"Yeah," he said, taking half a step towards her. "You don't have to treat me like a fucking kid."

It took all her willpower to not take a step back. "For fuck's sake," she said. "Okay, I get you want to fuck shit up, but if you had ripped a fucking stitch beating up a skinny Asian kid who I'm pretty sure couldn't hurt you if he had a fucking sledge hammer I would actually strangle you."

"You could try," he said.

"If you'd ripped your stitches I'd already have an advantage," she said. "And if – if you think I'd fucking push you around the cemetery in a wheelchair tomorrow-" She broke off, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth.

"Katie," he said, quietly.

"God damn it, Johnny," she said, unsteadily. Before he could reply, she started back up the stairs. He didn't follow her.

She took one of the cars in the lot outside and turned out onto the road, but only got as far as Sunnyville Gardens before she had to stop. She pulled over to the side of the road, wheels bumping up onto the curb, and switched off the engine. She stared at the steering wheel for almost a minute, then pulled out her phone.

It seemed to ring for a long time.

"Hey," said Troy, eventually. Cautiously.

"H-hey," she said back.

"Everything okay?"

"Can I just – talk to you?" she asked. "Things are-" She closed her eyes. "Just – fucked. I guess. Shit."

There was a long silence on the other end. "Yeah," he said, finally. "If you want."

"Can I see you?"

"Sure," he said. "But we can't meet in public any more. That shit you pulled with the Ronin has given you a profile."

"Well – what do we do instead?" she asked. "Like, rent a fucking motel room?"

"Jesus Christ," said Troy, quietly. "No. Look – I'll send you my address."

"Like – actually your real address?"

"Don't make me regret this," he said.

"I'm just – surprised that you trust me that much," she said.

"You think I shouldn't?"

"W-well, yeah, kind of?" she said. "I mean, shit, you just go around trusting everyone, you're going to get killed. And I'm not really okay with that."

There was a short silence. "Are – are you actually serious right now?" he asked.

"I – well, sort of, yes? Why not come to mine, or something?"

"Hotels have too many security cameras," he said. "Not a good idea."

She paused. "When did I tell you I live in a hotel?" she asked. "Christ, you don't have someone in the Saints, do you?"

He laughed humourlessly. "You think I'd do that to someone else? Strippers talk in this town, Katie."

"God fucking damn it," she said, smiling despite herself. "I am going to straight up murder Pierce."

"Come round anytime after seven. Wait, make it eight."

"Do you really work that late?" she asked.

"That's... not what I'd call late," he said.

"Really?" she asked. "I am so never getting a real job."

"Great," he said. "See you later."

* * *

It was after dark when she pulled up outside the apartment block. It was tall and grey, just opposite the rotunda at Brighton beach.

She kept her head down as she headed inside, but she didn't see a single person. She took the elevator to the thirtieth floor, and counted along the doors.

She knocked on the door and took a step back. After a moment she heard bolts shifting.

He opened it a crack. "You alone?"

"Yes? Who'd you think I was going to bring?" she asked. "Johnny? Jesus. If you didn't trust me then why would you give me-"

"Fine," he said, opening the door wider. "Come in."

The apartment was bigger than she'd been expecting, with a high ceiling and huge, sweeping glass windows, double doors leading out onto a balcony. The carpet and walls were cream, with black furniture.

"Oh. Wow," she said, taking a step inside.

"Nice view, huh?" he said.

She walked up to the glass doors. She could see the orange lights of the Philips tower as it reached into the sky; the huge neon advertisements on the buildings. "Nice view of the Row," she said, quietly. "What's left of it."

"Yeah," he said. "Long as I can't see the police station."

She managed a smile. "I was thinking of buying up some more real estate," she said. "Why's it so cheap here, anyway?"

"It's like Detroit," he said. "The city's halfway to bankrupt and no one wants to fucking live here. Drink?" He held up a bottle of whiskey.

"Yeah." She took a step back away from the windows. "Thanks."

"Ice?"

"Yeah," she said, again.

He put the glasses down on a glass coffee table in the middle of the room, and took a seat on the couch. "When's the funeral?"

"Tomorrow," she said, sitting down next to him. "It feels like it's been so long since it happened. Weeks."

"How's Johnny doing?"

"Not – great," she said, picking up her glass and looking down into the amber liquid. "Injury's healing alright, though."

"How about you?"

She looked up at him, but couldn't hold the gaze and looked back down. "I don't know," she said, looking down at her hands. "I just – I don't know."

Troy let the silence draw out.

"Julius told me," she said, finally. "Ages ago, now, I guess. That – well, it was pretty much along the lines of 'we all signed up for this'. I guess when you're fighting a war you take casualties." She glanced up. "I don't know why he told me this, maybe he thought that I was having trouble after Lin died, which, I mean, I was." She took a shaky breath. "But Aisha wasn't part of it. She wasn't. She didn't really know the risks."

"It's not that common to go through with killing gang associates," said Troy. "Especially women and children. They get intimidated, yeah. I guess sometimes it's an accident. Not often they get killed if they're clearly not a threat. Shit, she was still tied to the chair when I got to the scene."

"I forgot you were there too," she said, quietly.

"Yeah," he said. "One of the worst I've seen."

"Why would they do it then?" she asked.

"Well, either they thought they could deal with whatever you throw back at them, or someone made a bad judgement call. Or both."

"I didn't see it happen," she said. "Johnny did. And I wish he hadn't."

"Jesus." He sighed. "Look after him, okay? You don't really get over something like that."

"Yeah." She shook her head. "I just wish I could've- I don't know. Done something."

"Know the feeling."

"Do you know what bothers me?" she asked. "I don't remember why we blew up the VK's record company in the first place. I mean, all of that to get out of a recording contract? The whole fucking thing? It doesn't make sense."

Troy shrugged a shoulder. "Johnny plan. Killing the income stream for the VKs would probably factor in."

"But-" She looked up. "But after we got rid of them we just didn't do anything. Why couldn't we have just been all 'oh, she was in a coma and didn't remember her own identity, look here she is'?"

"Wasn't any time before –" Troy sighed. "Jesus. It was a mess."

"Why did Julius even approve it?" she asked. "I mean he got so mad at Dex for fucking talking to the Colombians and then Johnny comes along with a plan to blow up a huge office building and he's just like 'yeah, sounds good'? It doesn't make any sense."

"I wasn't making the decisions," he said. "Julius thought – thought we needed to send a message. I guess. He had some history with King. Maybe it was about that."

He reached into his pocket and brought out a pack of cigarettes. "Katie – if you don't mind me asking – why was it you wanted to talk to me about this?"

She shook her head when he offered the pack. "I don't know," she said, leaning back into the couch. "Probably – because you knew her too. Even just a little. I didn't really know her that well. And - maybe because of Lin, because you were there and you helped, and –" She shook her head. "I still can't believe you sent the fucking police dive squad."

"Yeah," he said. "Because I should have sent the Saints Row Olympic fucking swim team. I sent you the best I could, Katie. I thought they'd give Lin the best chance." He looked down at the glass on the table. "Didn't turn out that way."

"You never wanted any of us to die at all, did you?" she asked softly.

"Why would I?" he asked flatly.

"Would you have let Johnny go to the chair?"

He looked up at her. "Once it's hit the courts it's out of my hands." He paused. "But – if he'd wanted to take a plea deal for life instead, the prosecution might not have fought it so hard."

"Jesus Christ." She took a gulp of the whiskey, and winced at the burn.

"Take it easy," he said.

She looked at him sidelong. "Did you ever come see me?" she asked. "You know. After the explosion."

"Believe it or not, there aren't many places where a chief of police is less welcome than the inside of a prison," he said.

"You do that a lot," she said. "You know, make a joke or something instead of answering a question."

His eyes narrowed, then he looked away. "I saw you once," he said. "Before I took this job. It was just after the bomb. After you come off undercover you get a lot of leave. Helps you to wind down. Or they say it does, anyway. And you were – covered in bandages. Just lying there with a tube in your nose and one in your throat, hooked up to the respirator. And I couldn't even tell if it was you or not. So I left."

She touched her fingers to her lips. "Thank you," she said, quietly.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "It wasn't really you."

"If you didn't think it was me, why'd you keep me alive for so long?" she asked.

He looked down. "The doctors told me you wouldn't be coming back. That even if you did wake up you wouldn't be the same. I never thought I'd talk to you again."

"So – why?"

He looked up at her. "Because – things shouldn't have ended up that way. I never wanted to get you killed, or hurt, or anything like that. I think if you'd been taken off life support, it would have – would have meant that nothing I'd done that whole time would have been worth anything at all."

She blinked at him, stunned. "Um. I – uh, wow."

"Sorry," he said. "Forget it. Look – seeing you again has brought back a lot of weird shit I thought I'd dealt with."

"What?" she said, drawing out the word. "Weird like how?"

"Weird like I've been trying to forget about it for the past five years and can't anymore?"

She pulled back a little. "Sorry," she said.

He looked away. "Yeah," he said. "Whatever. It's not your fault. It's nothing to do with you. Not really."

"You okay?" she asked. The whiskey was slowly starting to relax her.

"Sure," he said. "I'm fine."

"I kind of don't believe you."

"Believe what you want." He drained the glass and set it on the table in front of him.

"Was it because of the undercover stuff you did?" she asked. "What was it like?"

He laughed hollowly. "I don't even know how to explain it to someone who hasn't done it," he said. "It's like – like living a lie. Like you know you're going to betray people that trusted you. It's no kind of life at all."

He stopped for a moment to light another cigarette. "You don't have 'friends', you just have enemies that don't know who you are yet. And you live this, 24/7. You have an operator you speak to twice a week, and he tells you you'll come out of it with a commendation."

"Were you scared?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Well, at first. You wait – you just wait – for something that blows your cover. And when that day never comes, you start to relax a little." He looked down at the empty glass in front of him. "And then you realise one day that these guys have got your fucking back, and they've saved your ass more times than you can count. And you've drunk with them, and ridden with them, and bled with them, and then – then one day you have to forget everything you did with them except for names, places, and dates for the courtroom."

She finished her whiskey and got up to refill their glasses, then set them back on the table next to each other.

"And then," he said, quietly. "You realise that you didn't come out of it the same person as you were when you went in."

"Was that why you didn't come in that night?" she asked.

He frowned. "What night?"

She could feel her cheeks turning red. "You know, that night after the party at the church. And you walked me home, and I said-"

He looked at her incredulously. "Are you seriously asking me about this right now?"

She looked down. "Well, yeah. I felt shitty about it for a really long time, so-"

"Really?" his gaze seemed to soften.

"Well I guess it wasn't a really long time because I got blown up shortly after that, but, you know, otherwise yes." She looked down at her hands. "I mean, I guess it's been five years for you but it hasn't really been that long for me."

"Jesus," said Troy. "Well – okay, they do encourage agents to – to form relationships with people in the groups they're infiltrating. Helps with cover. But – on that night-" He sighed. "Okay, to start with, you were wasted. I mean, to the point of trying to pick a fight with Johnny. Doesn't matter what my fuckin' job is, I'm not going to go home with a girl that drunk."

She grinned, wrinkling her nose. "Really? That's so sweet."

"You know," he said. "It bothers me that you think that's 'sweet', as opposed to normal fucking human behaviour."

"Well, you know." She rolled her eyes. "College."

His expression didn't change, but his hands tightened around his glass, knuckles whitening.

"It's a motherfucking minefield of date rapists and warnings not to leave your drink unattended," she said.

"Kate-" he began, his eyes too concerned.

She grinned. "Let's just – why don't we move on from that?"

He looked at her for a moment more, then turned his gaze back to his glass. "Alright, well, the second part is – I was getting out. Pretty much the next day." He looked up. "And – I didn't know what was going to happen, I thought I might have to testify against you in court. And I thought that – that was the kind of thing that might fuck you up. And I didn't want to do that to you."

"That's – actually really nice," she said.

"Whatever," he said.

"You know," she said, sipping her drink. "I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you."

He looked over at her warily. "Yeah. Don't think I don't know that."

She gave him a half-smile. "Don't tell me you regret it?"

He looked back down into his glass. After a moment he shook his head, just once, barely enough to be noticeable.

"And then you took me to buy my first gun," she continued.

His head snapped back towards her. "There is no way in hell that was your first gun," he said. "I've seen you shoot."

She smiled. "Good catch," she said.

"And you have a fucked up shooting style as well," he said. "You lower the gun from your shoulder and you take a while to line up and you don't bother supporting your hand. Where'd you pick that up?"

She turned her smile towards him, although it wavered. "Womens 25 metre pistol," she said. "We were going to go to the ISSF championships."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Troy's eyes widened.

"Nope."

"So what happened?" he asked.

"Well, we didn't go," she said curtly.

"Why not?"

"That's as much as you get," she said. She could hear the strain in her voice. "Sorry."

"I think that's the most you've ever told me about yourself."

She smiled faintly. "Don't get used to it."

"Why do you keep everything such a secret?" he asked.

"It's a long and embarrassing story," she said. "And one I'm not going to tell you." She took a long swallow of her whiskey. Her head was starting to spin. "You haven't got anything for me to do lately, have you?" she asked. "I kind of like it because it makes me feel like Batman."

"Batman doesn't kill people."

She nodded. "Yeah, I know. Kind of dumb, really."

He sighed. "I shouldn't have taken you up on that in the first place," he said.

"It's no big deal," she said. "Not like that one guy was a great loss to society."

"That's not the point," said Troy, looking down at the glass in his hands. "Still shouldn't have asked you to do it."

Kate cocked her head. "Was he being investigated for drug manufacturing?" she asked. "Like, was that the reason? I only ask because he had a meth lab going on when I showed up."

"Among other things," he said. "Hardly seems worth it, now."

"I'm sorry," she said.

He didn't look up. "Yeah," he said. "Me too."

She swirled the ice cubes in her drink. "I got a call from Channel 6," she said. "Just after the building explosion. Jane Valderama wants to do an interview."

"No way." He shook his head. "Stay the fuck away from the media. They will fuck you every time."

She laughed, surprised. "Um, okay."

"I gotta show you something." He stood up and made his way over to a set of drawers in the corner. After a moment, he picked out an old newspaper clipping.

"Read this," he said, handing it to her. He sat back down.

The headline of the clipping was 'The Trojan Horse'. She looked up, incredulous. "Seriously?" she said.

"Great start, huh?" he said. "Real great."

She began to skim the page. "Chief Monroe has increased the use of undercover agents-" She read out loud. "Wait, what? There were more of you?"

He shrugged. "I guess. I didn't get told who they were, or anything."

"Like in the Saints or the other gangs?"

"I told you, I don't know."

"Because if it was like more than one gang, wouldn't you potentially end up shooting at each other?"

"I don't kn-" He broke off. "I heard there were a couple of incidents. No fatalities."

She nodded, looking back down at the page. "This is some shit journalism," she said. "I mean, it's pretty much just a transcript. Which is – bordering on identifiable, at that."

"Monroe didn't give me a choice," he said.

"Why not?" she asked. "I'd say this comes close to jeopardising the whole thing. Sure sounds like you. Aww, it even talks about you smoking."

"Visibility," said Troy, bitterly. "Gotta look like you're doing something."

She looked at the name in the byline. Xavier Silverman. "This guy still work in Stilwater?" she asked, tapping a finger against her lips.

"How would I-" he began, but he broke off, narrowing his eyes. "Don't try to find out."

"I wasn't going to do anything," she said, innocently.

"Good," he said. "Don't." He leaned forward to tap ash into the ashtray on the table.

Her eyes flicked down to the last question the reporter had asked. "What did you have to do to prove yourself to these people?" she read. "And then you stormed out. Christ."

"I wouldn't call it storming out," he said. "So much as not putting up with the reporter's shit."

She folded the paper back along the crease and handed it back to him. "Is this what you meant before?" she asked. "With the stuff you said you thought you'd put behind you? Things that you did?"

"Yeah," he said. "Something like that."

"Troy." She put her hand on his knee gently. "You-"

"Don't," he said, interrupting her.

She paused. "Don't what?"

"Don't – this," he said, gesturing at the air between them. "I don't know what you're trying to do but there is no way in hell this is going to end well."

She drew back, folding her hands in her lap. "I'm not trying to do anything."

He stared at the table in front of him, the glasses dripping condensation onto the surface. "Why are you here?" he asked, bleakly.

"I wanted to see you," she said.

"Why?" he asked again.

She frowned. "The hell do you want me to say, Troy?"

"Just the truth."

"Jesus," she said. "Actually?"

When she didn't get a response, she kept talking. "Well – I – I like seeing you. There aren't that many people I can talk to. Like this. I imagine you might have the same kind of – thing."

He looked up at her, his green eyes uncertain.

"I mean," she continued, defensively. "If you think I'm just trying to manipulate you – given our respective positions I can sort of understand that. But that's not why I'm here."

"Katie-" he began, but she stood up.

"Look," she said. "It's late. I should be going."

His eyes followed her as she moved to the door. She pulled it shut behind her with a click, then leaned against it. She closed her eyes for a moment, before walking back down the hall to the elevators.


	35. Coat of Arms

The day of the funeral broke dark and grey, cloud hanging low over the city. Kate's first impulse was to bury her face in the pillow and go back to sleep, but she made herself roll out of bed instead and stumbled down the stairs in her underwear to make coffee.

She rested her head on the bar as the espresso dripped into her cup. She sat up to froth the milk herself, instead of leaving it to the automatic function, and mixed in a generous spoonful of sugar, before heading back upstairs. She paused by the window that looked over the city. What would Johnny be doing? Would he be awake? Would he be in the bedroom at the HQ, staring at the cracks in the ceiling? Was he the type to have a couple of drinks before the funeral? Maybe not, if it was Aisha's.

Kate gulped the coffee back, wincing at the heat, as she walked into her wardrobe. She grabbed a knee-length black dress out of the huge wardrobe, and then a bulky waterproof jacket to wear over it. The jacket didn't go with the dress at all, but the clouds outside the window seemed to be darkening. The last thing she grabbed was a pair of purple heels, just to be representing.

Just before she left, she sent Johnny a text.

_Coming in to HQ. You around?_

She didn't get a reply before she left the Hapton in her car.

It was just before 9:30 when she arrived at the headquarters. As she was walking down the stairs, she met Johnny coming up.

"Hey," she said. "Uh, what's up?"

There was something tense about his stance. "I gotta head back to the house," he said. "Need to pick a couple things up."

"Is this your first trip back?" she asked, hesitantly.

He looked away. "Yeah," he said.

"Okay," she said, touching a hand to her chest. "Can I come with you?"

"What for?" he asked. "I don't need you to look after me, if that's what you're trying to do here."

She shifted her weight onto one leg. "I – alright, well, I asked Carlos to get some kind of clean up organised and I don't know what he did or what it's going to look like in there."

"Thanks for letting me know," he said, starting to climb the stairs away from her.

"Johnny," she said, softly.

He stopped, but didn't turn around.

"Please?" she asked.

He turned back at that, with a glare that she could almost feel. "Fine," he said. "Whatever. Do what you want."

He let her ride in the passenger seat of his car but didn't speak to her as he drove. Kate sat uncomfortably, shoulders hunched. It had only been a week – two weeks, almost – since they'd last driven to his Misty Lane house together.

The rain drummed down on the convertible canvas roof as he pulled up to the house. He got out without saying a word to her and strode towards the front door. Kate had to run to catch up.

Johnny unlocked the door, pushed it open, and turned to Kate expectantly. She took two steps inside before she stopped. Johnny walked into her.

"The fuck are-" he began, looking up, but didn't finish his sentence.

Kate heard him exhale slowly as he looked at around the room.

The furniture had been stacked in the kitchen so the carpet could be ripped up, leaving only bare floorboards. It hadn't really helped. Blood had soaked through the carpets, leaving wide, dark red stains on the wood beneath. Over in the dining area, the streak of blood on the wall had been wiped into a pale pink smear on the wallpaper. There was half a roll of crime scene tape on the kitchen counter.

Kate half-turned to look at Johnny, but he sidestepped her and began walking towards the stairs.

"Fuck it," he said. "Whatever. I need to get a suit."

Kate walked after him, slowly, looking at the blood-stained floor. She could almost picture where the bodies had been lying. She sighed and followed Johnny up the stairs.

She caught up to him as he was standing in front of the wardrobe in his room. She hadn't been upstairs before, let alone into the bedroom. The bed had been neatly made with black sheets and white pillows. There was a large wooden vanity table with a mirror against one wall with a pair of diamond stud earrings lying on it, and a small framed photo of Aisha and Johnny which looked a couple of years old.

Kate turned away to look out the window instead, watching the rain as it hurled itself against the glass.

"I'm done," said Johnny.

She turned around to see him with an armful of clothes. "You going to head back to HQ?" she asked. 'Or –"

"Yeah," he said. "Let's go."

They headed back downstairs and out to the car.

Johnny slid into the drivers seat, but didn't make a move to start the engine. He just sat, staring, at the house.

"Sorry," said Kate. "For, um, how it looked inside. Should have checked."

He didn't reply.

"Do you want to do anything with the house?" she continued. "Get it fixed up, or sell it, or-"

"Burn it," he said. "It's not my home any more."

Kate looked past him, at the house. It looked just like every other house on the street. "Alright," she said. "That seems reasonable. Let's have a bonfire once it stops raining."

He nodded once, then turned the key in the ignition. Kate watched the house in the side mirror as they drove away down the road.

* * *

Aisha's memorial service five years ago had been a huge affair, with thousands of people crowding into the town hall. Kate hadn't gone, but she'd caught some of it on television afterwards, the helicopter overhead showing fans blocking the streets to get closer to the service.

There were only a handful of people at her funeral. There was her and Johnny, Carlos, Pierce and Shaundi. On the other side of the casket was an older, grey-haired couple that she assumed were Aisha's parents, and Aisha's sister that Kate had met once. She couldn't remember her name, but the sister didn't seem to recognise Kate anyway.

Aisha's parents were dull-eyed and quiet, huddling together under an umbrella. It was still pouring with rain. The heels of Kate's shoes kept sinking into the damp earth beneath her feet.

Mourning Woods cemetery was large and sprawling and green, with a wide road meandering through it. Here and there crypts were dotted among the headstones, and trees grew between plots.

Kate wasn't really listening to what the priest, standing at the head of the casket, was saying, although it was hard to hear him speak over the sound of the rain. Johnny was standing at her side, eyes fixed on the casket. The polished wood had been strewn with Aisha's favourite roses, crimson and gold and pale pink. One of the recruits standing behind them was holding an umbrella over them both. She watched a drop of rain run down the side of the casket and into the open grave below.

She felt her jacket pocket vibrate and winced. She took a half step back and reached for her phone. It was Troy. She rolled her eyes, disconnected the call, and dropped the phone back into her pocket. Thirty seconds later it buzzed again, just once. She sighed and reached for the phone again. Johnny cast her a quick sideways glance as she read the message.

Ronin headed to cemetery. Five minutes.

"Shit," she hissed. "Fuck."

"What it is?" Johnny asked, leaning towards her.

"Ronin incoming, five minutes."

"No," he said, loud enough for the priest to pause for a moment. He lowered his voice. "No fuckin' way are they messing with this funeral."

"Keep going?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, leaning away from her again.

Kate leaned over to Shaundi. "Hey," she whispered. "Things look like they might turn bad. I want you to get the parents and the sister out of the way if it looks like there's going to be bullets flying around, okay?"

"Got it," said Shaundi.

She turned to the row of Saints behind her. "You all packing?" she whispered. "Something might be going down soon." They nodded, and she turned back to the graveside.

She heard the roaring of the motorbikes coming closer and closer before they even came into view. She reached into her other pocket to wrap her fingers around her gun.

The first motorbike came through the cemetery gates, a streak of yellow against the grey. Kate noticed Johnny's shoulders tense, next to her, but other than that he gave no other sign that he'd even seen them.

The motorbikes wound their way through the cemetery road. There were more than Kate had been hoping for, and a couple of bright yellow cars at the end to finish off the procession. At least she had extra pocket space for clips this time.

The lead bike pulled up on the other side of the grass verge. The guy driving it was just a kid, his yellow leather jacket zipped up halfway and his spiked hair frosted blonde. He wasn't wearing a helmet.

The priest stopped halfway through a sentence.

"I'll go talk to him," she whispered to Johnny, taking a step away.

He grabbed her wrist. "The fuck you will," he growled.

"You two have humiliated my family for the last time," said the kid.

"Sorry, who actually is this guy?" Kate asked, just loud enough for the kid to hear her. "Pierce, I'm looking at you for this one."

Johnny cast her a sideways glance, then turned his eyes back to the casket. "Get out of here, Akuji," he said, barely raising his voice. "This isn't the time or the place."

"I thought Akuji was the dad," she said, watching the kid calmly.

"It's a surname," said Pierce, too quiet to be heard by the others over the rumble of the motorbikes. "This is Shogo."

"Oh," she said. "So is there actually any point to this guy?"

"You don't know who you're talking to," he said, glaring at her.

She laughed. "I think we've already established that that is indeed my problem," she said.

Johnny glanced at her again, sharply. "Leave," he said, to Shogo. "Any other time, any other place. Not now."

"You're not calling the shots right now," said Shogo, lifting his SMG.

Johnny leapt away from the casket instead of behind it, pulling out his pistol. The rest of the Saints scattered as bullets began to fly. Kate pulled the gun out of her pocket and began to run towards a tree for cover, but her heel caught in the wet ground and she fell to the ground. She kicked her shoes off, swearing quietly, and crawled over to the cover of a nearby tree.

She looked around for Shaundi, and was relieved when she caught a glimpse of her shepherding Aisha's family and the priest towards a nearby building. The Ronin were attempting to surround them, to cut them off from the road. She leaned out from behind the tree, only to come face to face with a man in yellow. She squeezed off two bullets almost instinctively, knocking him back. He didn't get up again.

Kate kept low to the ground, gun in one hand and most of the skirt of her dress in the other, as she moved out. The Ronin and the Saints were in close combat, now, scuffling in the mud, some too smeared with dirt to identify their colours.

Shogo was hanging back from the fight, crouching behind his motorbike. Kate narrowed her eyes, aimed, and fired. She could hear the _ping_ of the bullet deflecting harmlessly off the bike's chassis. She clenched her teeth and aimed again, eyeing his spiky blonde hair, but the second shot seemed to hit the seat near the front of the motorbike, even further away than the first.

It was enough to break his nerve. He threw a leg over the bike and opened the throttle. She abandoned any attempt at cover and ran after him, bare feet slapping against the mud. She leapt into one of the Ronin's cars and threw the car into gear. Her wheels slipped on the wet road as she accelerated, and then the car suddenly leapt forwards after him.

He turned his head back as he heard the car engine coming after him, and his look of relief when he saw the yellow of the paint turned into horror when he recognised her. She grinned.

He turned a corner quickly and neatly, and she wrenched the steering wheel to follow him. The car was slower to respond than the bike; harder to manoeuvre, and she caught the corner of a white picket fence as she turned as sharply as she could.

She leant forward. He was trying to lose her in the winding roads of Misty Lane, but she'd driven – or been driven – here often enough to know the layout. She didn't look at Johnny's house as they passed, then put her foot down hard on the accelerator as Shogo sped up towards the old Price mansion. He was forced to slow down for the hairpin bend, but Kate yanked the steering wheel to the right, driving through flowerbed and across someone's lawn, hitting Shogo's bike side on.

The bike skidded across the road, kicking up sparks, the engine screaming. Shogo was lying in the gutter, face down. She grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and hauled him up. He had a bright bleeding scrape across his cheek, and one of his eyes was starting to swell closed.

"And that's why you should always wear a helmet," said Kate, although she was pretty sure he couldn't hear her. She dragged him back to the car and shoved him into the back seat.

"You know," she said, watching Shogo in the rear view mirror. "You sounded awfully familiar before. It's you, isn't it?" she said. "You called me about that – what's his name? Big guy."

He didn't respond.

"What for?" she continued. "Was that some kind of internal power struggle thing going on?"

He remained silent, and she turned around in her seat to look at him. His eyes were closed, and his breathing shallow.

"Did your dad approve that?" she asked. His eyes opened, just slightly, but the car bumped up onto the curb and she had to turn back to correct it.

"Was that I 'no' I just saw?" she asked, playfully. "Well golly, what's he going to think about that?"

"Don't-" he rasped. "Don't tell him."

She laughed. "You are looking in the wrong place for favours here, buddy," she said. "But I wouldn't worry, you're not likely to see his reaction."

She parked again, at the cemetery, where Johnny was waiting for her, and dropped Shogo in a pile at his feet. The grounds were deserted.

"Couldn't even let her have a goddamn funeral," he said, hauling Shogo to his feet.

Shogo was awake enough to say something in return, although his legs were shaky, and Kate heard a crack as Johnny's fist connected with his face. Shogo fell back against a gravestone.

"Careful," said Kate. "Watch your stitches."

He ignored her. "Get up," he said, to Shogo.

Kate looked down at her chipped nails and bare feet and muddy dress. Her hair was dripping, slicked flat against her skull by the rain, and the jacket she was wearing was almost soaked through. She didn't even know where her shoes were any more, but they were probably ruined.

She could hear Shogo pleading, and endless stream of babble, interspersed with loud smacks of fist against flesh and bone, and Johnny's cold, recurring 'get up.'

"I am fucking done with this," Johnny said, and she looked up to see him tipping open a coffin.

Shogo's eyes widened. She walked over to watch as Johnny smashed Shogo's head into a gravestone to stun him, then dumped him in the open coffin. His shrieks became louder and more panicked.

"Calm down," said Kate. "It's embarrassing. I'm embarrassed for you."

He didn't seem to even register that she'd said anything. "Just kill me," he begged. "Don't do this!"

"You've only got like, what, four hours," she said. "Less if you panic. Nothing you can do about it now, anyway."

His eyes flicked from Johnny to her in terror.

"Sleep tight, you son of a bitch," said Johnny, as he swung the lid shut. He handed her a shovel. The grave was almost halfway full of dirt before they couldn't hear his screams.

Kate's arms were aching by the time they were done. "Hey," she said, as Johnny stared down at the grave they'd filled in. "What do you want to do about…" She looked over at Aisha's coffin, still sitting halfway in its plot.

He looked at her wearily. "Can't leave her like this," he said. "Not out in the rain."

She nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Alright."


	36. Pretty in Pink

It was still raining heavily when they arrived back at headquarters.

"How are your stitches?" she asked Johnny, as they walked down the stairs.

"Fine," he said.

"Really?" she asked. "That looked like kind of a workout."

"Fuck," he said. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Show me," she said.

They had arrived at the headquarters door. He kicked it open. "Are you just trying to get me to take my shirt off?" he asked.

A room full of eyes turned towards them.

She winced. "I - Jesus. Yes, Johnny, I want you to take your shirt off. It's my number one reason for existing." She gritted her teeth as the Saints below began to laugh.

She turned away as he began to unbutton his shirt.

"Aw, come on," he said. "You're missing the best part."

"Well I'm out of fucking dollar bills to throw at you," she said. She could feel her cheeks turning red. "You son of a bitch."

"You started it," he said, shrugging off his shirt. "What do you think?"

"Jesus Christ," she said, turning to look at his chest, the angry dark gash on his pale skin. "Well, it's bleeding a bit. Not too much. Does it hurt?"

He shrugged a shoulder . "Feels fine."

"Well – shit," she said stepping back. "I'm not a fucking doctor, I don't know how bad it is."

"No fucking kidding," he snarled at her, before walking straight past and down the stairs. The laughter from the floor died. She sighed and walked after him.

The mood at the headquarters was sombre, most people sitting on couches or the steps or the floor, bottles in their hands. The bare electric bulbs on wires around the room cast stark shadows on the marble floor.

Pierce handed her a plastic cup full of wine.

She smiled weakly. "Thanks," she said, and made her way across the floor to one of the bar stools.

She took a sip and grimaced. The wine wasn't great, but it was drinkable, at least, and she drained the cup quickly. As she was looking down at the last few drops on the cup, she felt someone come up behind her.

"Hey," said Carlos. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

She turned to look at him with a rueful smile as the man behind the bar refilled the cup. "Yeah," she said. "Sorry. I've – it's been weird lately."

"Yeah," he said. "You doing okay?"

"I'm doing okay," she said. "Thanks. You don't need to worry about me."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because I'm the one that needs to worry about everyone else."

"So no one worries about you at all?" he asked, with an impish smile.

She grinned. "What's on your mind, Carlito?"

His smile faded a little. "Been thinking about the Brotherhood."

"Oh," she said. "Yeah. What have you got?"

"Found a couple of protection rackets we could take over," he said. "And what they do with their trucks."

"What's that?"

"Some kind of derby thing," he said. "Covered stadium. I was thinking we could mess with one of their shows."

"Interesting!" she said. "What could we do with that? Stop the trucks from working? Probably a little anticlimactic. Blow them up? Kind of done that already. Something with fireworks?"

"We were thinking of rigging the cars so the exhaust would feed back into the cab instead," he said.

"What would that do?" she asked. "Would they just pass out? Would it flood the stadium?"

"If they went long enough," he said. "They'd probably shut it down before then, though. Big stadium."

"I like the sound of this," she said. "Need me to ride along, or have you got this?"

"You could come along to watch the show," he suggested.

She smiled. "Alright," she said. "Let me know where and when."

"Will do," he said. He turned, taking a step away, but after a moment turned back to look at her. "Katie – why don't you want to talk to me any more?"

She stared at him for a moment. "Shit," she said, rubbing a hand over her eyes. "Okay. Look, it's probably time I – talked to you about this. You mind taking a walk with me?"

There was a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.

"Don't worry," she said, quickly. "Everything's fine. Nothing's wrong or going to change or anything like that. I just – come with me, okay?"

She led him to the doorway near the bar and out to the sunken city beyond. It was dark, the only light filtering through from the doorway behind them. She shivered. Old Stilwater was always cold to her, the cool stone that surrounded them leeching the heat from her bones.

They didn't make it far – out into the paved streets and past a row of decrepit parking metres – before she stopped and turned back towards Carlos with a sigh. "My Carlito," she said, smiling sadly. "I – have not dealt with this well. And I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he said. "I just – why won't you talk to me about it?"

"Yeah, I don't really do that," she said. "Maybe it'd be better if I did. I don't know. Just how I deal with things."

"And how's that been working out for you?" he asked.

She shot him a flat stare. "Look," she said. "We do things my way. Even if it turns out to be a little dysfunctional."

He took a step back. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to-"

"I haven't been doing this for very long," said Kate, before he could finish his sentence. "This whole – being responsible for people. I'm probably going to make some mistakes. Have already made some mistakes."

"Katie," he said. He took her hand in both of his. She flinched, slightly. "It's okay to trust other people, you know?"

She retrieved her hand gently. "Not all of the time," she said. "Figuring out who you can trust is one of the hardest things you can do."

"You trust me," said Carlos. "Don't you?"

"Of course. You wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"And you're afraid of losing people," he continued.

She closed her eyes. "Yeah," she said. "I guess that's what this whole thing comes down to. You can't always – plan for that." She frowned. "Although there are steps we could take to address this. Better security. Maybe a personal detail on associates. And families. Stuff like that. Sound okay? I don't want anyone's – I don't know. Family. Getting hurt. "

His eyes were huge and dark and worried.

"I won't let anything happen to your family, okay?" she said. "Your mom. Your, um, siblings?"

"I got a sister," he said. "Gina."

"Yeah," she said. "Okay. I need to sort this shit out, okay, we're not doing anything with the Brotherhood until we've got something set up. This can't happen again. I need to start thinking about you guys first."

"That's a lot to think about," he said.

She sighed. "It's important," she said. "Let's go back inside, I'm getting cold.

Kate led Carlos back inside and headed straight for the bar. She'd barely gotten another drink before she froze as she heard a woman's voice, calling down the stairs.

"Hello? Am I in the right place?"

The room fell silent. Kate and Johnny exchanged glances.

"Katie, sweetheart, are you down here?"

"Uh – yeah?" Kate called back.

She heard footsteps, and then a small, middle-aged woman appeared in the doorway at the top of the stairs, carrying a large tray. "I thought I should drop by," she said. "To say thanks."

Kate stood up. "Laura!" she said. "Good to see you again."

Laura started down the stairs before she seemed to notice the rest of the room, dark and sombre, watching her warily. She held up the tray in her hands. "I made brownies?" she said, hesitantly. "Should be enough for everyone."

"Oh my god," said Kate, standing up. "Oh my god, what sort of brownies?"

"Well, chocolate fudge," said Laura, beaming. "With a special ingredient, of course."

"Holy fuck," said Kate. "Everyone has to try these right now. Everyone. Especially Shaundi."

She took the tray from Laura, stuffed a brownie in her mouth, handed the tray to the nearest person to pass on, and enveloped Laura in a hug. She smelled like cocoa and washing powder.

"I heard you weren't very well for a bit, dear," Laura murmured. "Glad to see you're up and about." She gave Kate's hip a pinch. "You've lost so much weight."

"Yeah, I'm working on it," said Kate, stepping back. "Sorry it took so long to get you out, by the way. Shaundi had this plan with a bomb but I didn't really feel up to breaking into jail just after I'd left."

"You've got to look after yourself first," agreed Laura. "I'm here now. And being back is just great! Drop by my house some time."

"Will do," said Kate. "We're going to need your help."

* * *

The sky was darkening to black as she arrived back at her apartment. She unlocked the door, dropped her bag on the floor, poured herself another drink, and got into bed. She was half dozing, half watching some TV movie, when her phone rang.

She picked up the phone without checking the number. "What up?"

There was a slight pause. "Kate," said Dex, finally. "Come for drinks with me."

She smiled. "Funny," she said, sitting up. "That didn't sound much like a request."

"I'm out of the habit of making requests," he said. "Please accept my sincere apologies."

"No need to get all Mr Darcy," she said. "So where was it that you were demanding the pleasure of my presence?"

"Bar downtown," he said. "Red Square. Know where it is?"

"Vaguely?" she said, narrowing her eyes slightly. It was close to Troy's, and she wondered for a moment if it was intentional.

"Meet me there in thirty."

"Uh, forty five at the earliest," she said. "If we're going to Red Square I need to look presentable."

"Is it really going to take you that long?" he asked.

"I'm actually in bed right now," she said. "So yes, it's going to take a while."

"You're in bed? It's 9:30."

"It has been a fuck of a day, Dex," she said.

"Fine," he said, sounding amused. "See you when you get there, I guess."

She arrived at the bar, finally, at almost eleven, and located Dex after a quick circuit of the room. The room was almost too dark to see, with dark mahogany tables and leather seats. Dim lamps were dotted around the room.

Dex was sitting in a booth, and raised an eyebrow at her when she locked eyes with him. She smiled, slid into the booth beside him. He was dressed in a well-cut pin striped suit, the dim light glancing off his cheekbones. She smiled, apologetically.

"Took your time," he said.

"Do you really want to be seen here with anyone less than perfect?" she asked, leaning towards him. "This is your invitation to tell me how good I look."

"You look amazing." He grinned. "Have you been drinking already?"

"I like how you can tell," said Kate. "Apparently no one else can. I had a couple while I was getting ready. And, you know, earlier. Been a tough day."

"You're an eternal college student," he said. "Order whatever you want, I gave them a card at the bar. Give them my name."

"Impressive. It's been a long time since I had someone hand over a credit card at the bar," she said, standing up. "I'll be right back."

She ordered the second-most expensive thing on the menu, which turned out to be a gingerbread martini, and returned to the table.

"So what's up with the Ultor tagline 'we don't cure cancer, but we sure come close'?" she asked. "I've been listening to the radio a lot lately and I kind of don't get it."

Dex shrugged. "We're working on it."

"Are you actually?" she asked. "What does Ultor even do? Last time around I thought it was a clothing company with some kind of sponsorship deal with the dome."

"We've got fingers in a lot of pies," he said.

"That's such a weird metaphor," she said. "It's kinda gross."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "I guess," he said. "So, did you find out who set you up?"

She looked away. "No," she admitted. "Fucked that right up."

"What happened?"

"Overplayed my hand, I think." she said. "Let's not do a post-mortem. Didn't burn any bridges, at least, so I think I can try again later. Maybe when he's more comfortable being around me."

"What's he like around you now?" Dex asked, curiously.

"Um. Trusts me not to kill him, which is nice, I guess. Very on edge, though."

"Maybe you make him nervous."

She rested one elbow on the table, and leaned her chin on it. "That wouldn't be much of a surprise. I think I'm still kind of an unknown quantity."

"How do you feel about him?"

"How do I feel about him?" she repeated. "What, on a personal level?"

He shrugged. "On any kind of level."

She tapped her fingers on her glass. "I don't know why he bothers with me," she said. "He doesn't have to."

"What if he just thinks you're interesting?" Dex suggested.

She frowned. "I think undercover messed him up," she said. "Like, quite badly."

"He say that to you?"

She shook her head. "Just something about the way he talks about it."

"Huh," said Dex. "How did you feel when you found out he was a cop?"

She frowned. "What? I don't know. Uh, shocked, I guess. Like – didn't see that coming."

"And after that?" he prompted.

She narrowed her eyes. "Why?" she asked. "I'm not sure what you're asking."

He tilted his head to one side. "I want to know if you were angry."

"Oh," she said, sitting back. "No. Johnny was."

"Why weren't you angry?"

She ran a hand through her hair. "I don't kn– I thought it was interesting, I guess. I was – wondering if it could be useful. Especially after I found out about the trouble he'd gone to so I wouldn't die."

He sat back in his chair, smiling. "Good."

She half-closed her eyes. "Was that the answer you were looking for" she asked. "Another of your tests?"

"They're not tests," he said.

"I feel like you're constantly assessing me for something," she said. "What would that be?"

He grinned. "It's not like that," he said. "It's just I'm trying to figure out how your mind works."

She sipped her cocktail. "Don't treat me like a project, Dex," she said. "Am I going to be your Eliza Dolittle?" She leaned towards him. "Wait, this better not be an actual Ultor project. If I find out all this is going on your work-related expenditure account I am going to fuck you up, I swear to god."

"It wasn't a company credit card I gave the bar for the tab," he said. "If that's any reassurance."

"Do I have a cost code?" she asked.

"Vogel noticed you drop literary references when you're threatened," said Dex. "That's two tonight so far. Something wrong?"

She sat up. "I – what?" she said, eyes widening. "I don't – I'm not threatened. Christ, he's met me one time and he thinks he knows me."

"He's good at reading people," said Dex, smiling faintly. "Made a career out of it."

She ran her tongue over her teeth, and smiled back. "You know," she said. "I went to college on a scholarship."

Dex frowned at the subject change. "I didn't know that, but – alright."

"And I ended up making friends with this crowd of really rich kids," she continued. "And, you know, it wasn't a big thing that they had money and I didn't, except, sometimes – sometimes someone would just say something that would remind me that we came from completely different worlds. It wouldn't be on purpose, and it wouldn't be mean-spirited, but it just made me realise how different we were." She tilted her head slightly. "You ever feel like that?"

He sat back a little, clasping his hands around his glass. "I hadn't realised I touched a nerve," he said coolly. "My apologies."

"You didn't answer the question," she said.

He paused for a moment. "What I don't understand," he said. "Is what happened when you left college."

The smile slowly faded from her face, and she looked down at the cocktail umbrella in her drink.

"Something there had to have gone wrong, right?" he continued. "Did you go out with a bang?"

She took the umbrella out of her drink, folded it up neatly, and laid it down next to the glass.

"It's not that I don't appreciate your ability to go for the fucking throat," said Dex. "But don't play this game with me, Katie, you won't win it."

"Sorry," she said, quietly, not looking up.

"If you can rein that in a little it'll be useful," he said, thoughtfully. "And your directness can be – refreshing, but it could also get you in a lot of trouble."

"It – uh, this hasn't been a good day," she said. "Sorry." She risked a glance up.

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Well – the Ronin crashed Aisha's real funeral so we had to bury one of them alive." She checked her watch. "He's probably dead by now, though."

"You have been busy," he said. "Want to call it a night?"

"Probably a good idea," she said, sliding out of the booth. "This was – fun."

"Always a pleasure," said Dex. She could feel his eyes on her as she walked out.


	37. Tell Me Bout It

Kate was woken by her ringtone, and for what felt like minutes fumbled around in the sheets until she found her phone under her pillow.

"Hey, wanna go to a party?" Shaundi asked, when she picked up.

Kate rubbed her eyes. Sunlight was streaming in through the open window. "What?" she managed. "What time is it?"

"Did I wake you up?" Shaundi sounded amused. "It's 2 in the afternoon."

"Why is there a party at 2 in the afternoon?" Kate mumbled.

"Well, it's in a couple hours, but – it's kind of a student thing."

"Is it like – at the university?" Kate asked, sitting up. "Shaundi, is this a fucking frat party?"

"Sort of?" said Shaundi. "Mostly everyone's graduated by now, but, you know-"

"Okay," said Kate. "Okay, whatever. Why do you want me to come?"

"I've got this friend who knows something about some Samedi drug labs," she said. "And he's going to be there."

"Couldn't you just, like, find out and let me know?" asked Kate.

"Yeah, I guess," said Shaundi. "Just, you know. Thought you'd have fun. Get you out of the house."

"Ugh," said Kate. "Yeah, okay. Come pick me up at some point, I guess."

Shaundi was there just over two hours later in a beaten-up minivan. Kate hadn't made much of an effort to dress up, except for wearing jeans instead of shorts and a coat of mascara.

She got in the van after giving it a distrustful once-over, and watched the familiar streets slip past outside the window as they drove towards Stilwater University.

"You went to college here, right?" asked Shaundi.

"Mm-hmm."

"Were you in a sorority?"

"Uh," said Kate. "Look. All this was a really long time ago, okay? I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?" asked Shaundi. "Like, why is it such a huge mystery? Did something really bad happen?"

"No," snapped Kate. "It was just stupid, all right? It was just really fucking stupid. And I don't want to talk about it. I don't ask about your shit and you don't ask about my shit."

"Yeah," said Shaundi. "Okay. I was in jail for possession with intent to distribute."

"You telling me this isn't going to make me tell you mine, okay?" said Kate, defensively.

Shaundi shrugged. "That's okay. I don't expect anything. It was a bullshit charge, though, that weed was all mine."

Kate cast a sideways glance at her. "How much did you have?"

"I dunno," said Shaundi. "Like, eight ounces or something."

"Holy fuck," exclaimed Kate, turning to stare at her. "That's an insane amount. That's what, like sixteen hundred dollars? Shit."

"Yeah, but I didn't pay that much," said Shaundi. "Got a good deal. You know how it is."

"How'd you go down for it?" asked Kate.

Shaundi shrugged a shoulder. "Suspect an ex tipped someone off. Not the one you've, uh, met. Or the one we're going to see tonight. I'm on pretty good terms with most of them, but some guys just don't know when to give up, you know?"

"Mm," said Kate noncommittally. "So who we gonna go see?"

"Oh, his name's Blake," she said. "He's a sweetheart."

"Please tell me you're not trying to set me up with some guy," said Kate.

Shaundi laughed. "No! But if I'd thought of it earlier I might have."

"There is literally no way I'm taking on your sloppy seconds," she said. "I don't care if that eliminates like half of Stilwater, I'm not down for that."

"Worried they'll compare us?" Shaundi cast her a mischievous glance.

"That is like ninety percent of it, yes," said Kate. "God knows I'm not going to win that battle."

"Well, if you ever need some tips…"

"Let's save that until we're both wasted," said Kate, holding up a finger.

"No problem." Shaundi grinned.

Kate could hear the bass thumping over half a block away, even over the sound of the car radio.

Shaundi pulled up outside a stone townhouse. It was tall, and grey, with a scraggly patch of grass just outside. Someone was lying face-down on it.

Kate turned to Shaundi. "I don't know if-"

"Ah," said Shaundi, holding up a finger. She wriggled in her seat, reaching into the pocket of her jeans, and finally handed Kate a twist of white paper.

Kate unwrapped it carefully. Tucked inside were three small yellow pills. She looked up with a grin.

"Oh my god, Shaundi," she said. "They're not even the generics."

Shaundi smiled. "You know I'm always telling you to relax," she said. "It'd be rude of me to not help you out a little with that."

"I love you," said Kate. "I actually love you." She tossed the pills into her mouth and gulped them down dry.

"Well, we can save that for later when we're wasted as well, if you like," said Shaundi. "You good?"

"Yeah," said Kate. "Won't take long." She reached for the door handle.

"You know how much you can drink with those?" Shaundi asked.

"Pretty much down to the millilitre," said Kate, stretching her feet out in the footwell. "Jesus Christ. This is a fucking trip back in time for me."

"And don't pass out," said Shaundi. "But I'm sure you've got that one figured out already."

"At a frat party?" asked Kate. "No fucking shit."

"Atta girl," said Shaundi, opening the door. "Let's go."

Kate followed her up the stairs. The music was almost painfully loud by the time they stepped through the door. The floor was sticky with spilt beer already, gripping the rubber soles of Kate's shoes.

She leaned down, close to Shaundi's ear to be heard. "I am gonna be like ten years older than everyone else here!" she yelled.

"Shut up!" Shaundi yelled back. "You're not even that old. Are you?"

"I'm-" Kate began.

"Shaundi!"

Shaundi whirled, only to be tackled by a chubby Asian girl in a white t-shirt. She laughed, and hugged her back. "Annie!" she said. "It's been so long."

"How long have you been out?"

"Couple months?" said Shaundi. "Sorry I haven't been in touch, I've been kind of – oh, hey, this is my friend, Ka- uh, Katie. Kate?"

"Hi," Kate offered.

"Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Annie," said the girl. "Drinks in the kitchen, if you like." She turned back to Shaundi. "Hey, you know what it's time for?"

"What's that?"

"Time for you to do a beer bong!"

Shaundi nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, seems about right. Well, okay! It's been a while."

Kate followed the two into the kitchen. It was packed, people gathered around a rickety table, and bottles on every surface. Someone held up a long plastic tube. Shaundi raised both arms in the air, fists clenched, and the crowd shrieked in response.

Kate snagged a bottle from the kitchen bench and ducked out of the room. The back door was open, and she walked outside and sat down on the top step. She cracked the beer bottle open and took a swig. It was warm.

She could hear people chanting Shaundi's name from inside, and grinned. Even when she'd been at college she couldn't do that – her one attempt had led to her throwing up in the bushes immediately afterwards.

She heard footsteps behind her, and turned her head.

"Hey," said a boy in a white t shirt. He looked barely old enough to be out of high school. "You here with Shaundi?"

"Yeah," said Kate, with a smile. "She's fun, isn't she?" She was starting to feel the lightness from the pills.

"How'd you know each other?" he asked.

"Oh, you know," she said, shrugging lazily. "Met her at some kind of party after a Skeeters game, I think. Big night."

"Pretty sure Shaundi only does big nights," he said. "You a student here?"

"Mm-hmm," said Kate. "I'm doing my, uh, Masters in – cognitive neuroscience. Mostly to do with learning and neuroplasticity. Haven't decided if I'm going to go for the PhD yet, though."

"Holy shit," he said. "I don't even understand the words you're saying right now."

"It's cool," she said. "It's less complicated than it sounds."

"I'm going to get another drink," he said. "Uh, talk to you later." He stepped back inside.

Kate stood, watching the empty doorway with a grin. It didn't stay empty for long, and Shaundi leaned out a moment later.

"There you are," she said. "Blake's here. Finally. Wanna go chat?"

"Sure," Kate said.

She followed Shaundi through the door and downstairs to the basement.

"Hey!" A guy in a trucker cap and a polo shirt stood up. "Good to see you again." His eyes flicked to Kate. "Is this – uh-"

"Mm-hmm," Shaundi said, smiling.

He turned to Kate, frowning faintly. "You don't, uh, look – how I expected you to look."

"How'd you expect me to look?" asked Kate, raising an eyebrow.

"Less – uh, normal?" he said, slowly, as if he were a little confused at the words coming out of his mouth.

"Oh," she said, awkwardly. "Well – thank you?"

"Whatcha got?"

"Drug labs in Shivington," he said. "Place is full of them."

"Can you be any more specific?" asked Kate, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure," he said, reaching for his phone. "Hold on, I got the addresses here. I'll text them to you."

"You sure about this?" asked Shaundi. "Hate to bust into someone's home, you know."

"Yeah, totally," he said. "Saw some guys moving a ton of chemicals in. Samedi all over the place. Constant stream of strangers. You know what it's like."

Shaundi's phone beeped and she turned to Kate. "So want these now, or are you gonna stick around?"

Kate tapped her fingers against her leg. "Send them through," she said. "I'm going to make a call."

"Sure thing," said Shaundi.

Kate waited for the message, and then walked back up the stairs and out onto the lawn. The sky was dotted with stars. She reached for her phone and dialled.

Johnny answered on the second ring. "Yeah?"

"Hey," she said. "It's me."

"Yeah," he said, again. "What's up?"

"I'm at a frat party," she said.

"Re-living your glory days?" he asked.

"Ugh. Rather not," she said. "I am pretty much like twice everyone's age here, it's gross. Anyway, I wanted to ask your opinion on something."

"Sure."

"Got some Shivington drug lab locations," she said.

"Yeah?" he said again, sounding more interested. "Thinking of paying a visit?"

"Well, yes," said Kate. "But I wanted to like, talk about it first. Something. I don't know. Make a plan? We don't have much other than addresses at this stage."

"Are you talking about some kind of surveillance shit?" asked Johnny. "Because if you're going to try to make me sit in a car for eight hours watching a doorway, I'm out."

"Yeah, you're not my top pick for stakeouts," said Kate. "I was just wanting to know how big this might be."

There was a pause. "You wanna come in?" said Johnny, finally. "I'm at the HQ. Easier than talking about it over the phone. If you're done with the frat party, that is."

"Think I might be," said Kate. "See you soon. Need anything?"

"Pick up a map on your way over."

"That it?" she asked.

"Pierce keeps enough alcohol in here to last us a good five years," said Johnny. "Motherfucker's planning for the apocalypse or some shit."

"Right. See you soon, then." She hung up.

Shaundi rolled her eyes when Kate told her she was leaving, but handed over the car keys. "Not like I'm going to be using them tonight," she said. "Drive safe."

Kate stopped in at a gas station to pick up a map, and still managed to make it to the HQ before the sun set.

She found Johnny in a side room at the top of the stairs, sitting in front of an old wooden table and another spare chair, the polish long since faded. The only things on the table were his cellphone and a half-empty bottle of whiskey. The radio was playing downstairs, barely audible. He waved her over.

"How you doing?" she asked.

He smiled tightly. "I wish you wouldn't ask me that," he said.

"Have to," she said, ruefully. "You want to talk about it or anything?"

"I really fuckin' don't."

"Good," said Kate. "I'm shit at that shit." She opened the map and spread it out on the table. "Now, we're looking at here-" she drew an X on the map, then followed it up with three more. "Here, and here."

Johnny leaned forward to see. "Should be able to hit all of those pretty fast," he said. "In and out in half an hour if we coordinate right. You know what kind of resistance we're expecting?"

She shook her head. "No idea. Lot of people around, though."

He looked up at her. "How good is this information?"

She sighed, and sat down in the chair on the other side of the table. "Some guy Shaundi dated."

"So – better than what we usually got."

She closed her eyes with a grin. "Basically."

"So we work with it," he said, with a shrug, and slid the other glass towards her. "When you planning on doing this?"

She tipped the bottle up into the offered glass. "Sometime this week. If they're obvious enough to random stoners, I don't want anything happening to them first, like – I don't know. Cops busting them."

"Yeah," he said. "Could happen."

"You still staying here?" Kate asked. "Not that I need the room back."

His eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "Yeah."

"You been back to the house?"

"No," he said, curtly.

"Do you want me to take care of it?" she asked. "Get it cleaned up properly, sell it, burn it down, I don't know."

He looked away. "Just – leave it," he said. "Alright? Just for now. I appreciate it, and all that shit, but just leave it."

"Yeah, alright," she said. "Whatever." She leaned over the map on the table.

"You seen Carlos lately?" asked Johnny. "He was in before. Asked about you."

She sighed and looked over at him. "Really? I guess it's been – I don't know. I haven't talked to him properly in a while."

"Kid follows you round like a lost puppy."

Kate lifted her glass to her lips. "Do I look like a responsible pet owner to you?"

"Thought you were kind of into him."

"When am I ever into anybody?" she murmured flatly, taking a gulp.

"You ever fuck Troy?" he asked, casually.

She choked on the whiskey. It burnt through her sinuses. "What?" she snapped. " _Fuck_. No."

"See, I told Dex you hadn't," he said. "Don't think he believed me, though."

She dropped the glass back onto the table, trying to wipe droplets off her skin and shirt. " _What_?" she said, again. "What in the fuck?"

"Oh, you know," he said, grinning. "You went home with him that one night, didn't you? After the party. When Dex found out Troy never came back he was fucking pissed. And we saw you the next morning and you were a huge a bitch as ever, so I told him you obviously hadn't-"

"What night?" she asked. "I _never_ took Troy home. I-" She stopped in the middle of her sentence, eyes narrowing. "You're talking about that fucking night, aren't you?"

"Which night you talking about?" he asked, his eyes flicking back to the map.

"The 'do you fuck men' night," she said, unable to keep a straight face. "Jesus fucking Christ."

"And have you fucked any men since that night?" he asked.

She let out a long sigh. "No," she said, rolling her eyes. "So, at this point in my life, I guess I actually don't fuck men. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, you're a piece of shit."

He laughed. Kate hadn't realised how long it had been since she'd last heard it.

"Asshole," she said, but she was smiling.

"You need to get laid," he said.

"You need to stop thinking about my vagina so much," she said back. "It's weird."

He laughed, quietly.

"What if-" She glanced back at the map, tapping her fingers gently on the table. "Do we have the numbers to hold the drug labs? Instead of blowing them up, I mean. No sense destroying a revenue stream, right?"

"Take them over?" asked Johnny. "Uh – borderline. Could leave the HQ a little low on guards. Also we couldn't handle too many casualties."

"What if we take a whole bunch of flashbangs?" asked Kate.

"Uh, yeah," he said. "That's not going to work if we're trying to not blow them up."

"Oh, seriously?" she asked. "That'd set off the chemicals or whatever?"

"Like you wouldn't fucking believe."

"Alright. We go in, are reasonably careful, and-"

"And, I'm out," said Johnny.

She rolled her eyes. "You are like a fucking two year old, I swear to god. Pretty sure we'll still get swarmed. Oh, hey, that'd actually be good. We pick one place to hit first, draw all the attention, and then pick off the other three while they're more or less undefended. And I want to take Laura along to tell us if what we find it worth keeping. How's that?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. Is Laura going to be okay under fire?"

"Yeah, she's used to it," said Kate. "Tougher than she looks."

"Right," said Johnny. "Give me a day or two to round some people up and see what we got."

She poured another glass of whiskey. "Sounds good," she said. "I have a good feeling about this."


	38. Chapter 38

Kate knocked on the white wooden door and took a step back. It was late morning on a Sunday, and the suburbs were quiet to the point she could hear the breeze ruffling the carefully manicured lawns.

The door swung open. "Katie!" Laura exclaimed. She was wearing a checkered apron over a pale blue dress, and was clutching a pair of oven gloves in one hand. "Come in!"

She stood back as Kate followed her into the house. There was a pile of shoes by the front door. Kate frowned at it for a moment before kicking off her own canvas sneakers. The house smelled like fresh baking and laundry powder.

"I suppose you've come about that dust," said Laura, disappearing through a door. Kate hurried to catch up, and stepped through into the kitchen. The oven door was open, and there was a tray of cookies cooling on a wire rack on the countertop.

"I've worked out the recipe to maybe-" She hesitated. "Ninety percent. Ninety five, maybe. There are a couple of things I'm not too sure about. Most of it's some really high grade pot. A little bit of acetone-"

"Actually, I was coming to ask your opinion on this idea I had," said Kate. "Though, thanks for that too. I was going to ask if you wanted to come along on some drug lab raids tonight. Though – now I'm here I'm not sure any more." She looked around at the tiled marble floor and the wooden panelled cupboards. The house seemed so warm and cosy and – normal. There was a framed picture of Laura and two teenagers hanging on the wall.

"That sounds exciting!" said Laura. "I've never been in a raid before. Well, from the side doing the raiding, at least." She laughed self-consciously.

"I wanted you to come so I could get your opinion on the set up and whatever else," Kate continued. "But maybe I should just get you to come along later."

"But what if it's no good?" asked Laura, gripping the oven gloves in both hands. "You don't want to put that much work into something and then find out it's useless."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking earlier," said Kate. "I just don't want to put you in any unnecessary danger."

"Will it help if my Toby comes along?" she asked, anxiously. "He could keep an eye out for me."

"Tob- oh. _Yes_." Kate leaned back against the countertop with a frown. "Maybe if – okay, so we've got four places to hit, right. After we finish with the first one, we could bring you in to have a look at what we've got to work with. You stay close by, but not actually getting shot at. Tobias stays with you at all times. How's that?"

"Well – alright," said Laura. "But I'd be close by?"

"Yep," said Kate. "Maybe if you're hanging out in like a van or something. Stay mobile."

"Alright." Laura smiled happily. "I'll talk to Tobias when he gets home. When are you planning this to go ahead?"

"Uh, tonight," said Kate. "Sorry."

"You always did work to short timeframes," Laura said. "Don't worry, I'm used to it."

Kate shrugged sheepishly. "Can't plan for shit," she said. "I'll call you later."

* * *

"Oh, Christ," she said. "I don't know."

"You're overthinking this," said Johnny. She couldn't see him properly in the dark, but she knew he was rolling his eyes. "We go in there, fuck shit up, then move to the next one."

They were sitting in a dark green Voxel with the rear passenger door smashed in. The lights were off, and they were hunched forward over Kate's phone, both looking at the map.

"It's not overthinking it if you're like, making a basic plan to avoid getting killed," she said, defensively.

"That's not what you're doing here." The streetlight outside the car reflected off his glasses. "What you're doing here is trying to talk yourself out of it."

"No I'm – not," she said.

"You've been acting weird for a while now," he said. " _And_ your aim's gone to shit."

"So it's probably residual brain damage from being in a coma," she said. "Something like that."

"See, that'd make sense," he said. "But it hasn't been since you woke up. It's only been since-"

She got out of the car, slammed the door behind her, and started across the road. She was almost at the other side when Johnny closed his door, quieter than she had.

"I don't know why you gotta be so fucking weird all the time," he called out.

She turned back. "Can we just do this?" she asked, walking backwards until her heels hit the curb.

He came to an abrupt halt, then spread his arms. "Fine," he growled. "Whatever the fuck you want." He raised his cellphone to his ear and half turned away.

It was only a minute before the cars started to arrive, pulling quietly up to the sidewalk. It wasn't until people started stepping out that she really realised how many of them there were. Men and women, big and small, carrying guns and knives and baseball bats with nails hammered through the end. They assembled under the flickering half-light of the street lamps, watching her expectantly.

She gazed at them for a moment longer. "On my signal," she said, at last.

"What's the fucking signal going to be?" Johnny snapped.

"Probably when the shooting starts?" she suggested. "I want you with me, alright? Others a little further back. Follow me."

Shivington was a cluttered mix of cheap industrial warehouses, high-density housing, and empty sections strewn with rubbish and abandoned construction fencing.

After some preliminary scouting, she'd picked the busiest target to hit first. It was a large brick building, with a parking lot and steps leading up to a raised area. There were a couple of green cars in the parking lot, but they seemed to be empty. A security camera overlooked the door in the side of the building, but didn't seem to be covering the rest of the area. She motioned Johnny to stay where he was, let out a long breath, and then tapped a knuckle against the door.

There was a quiet scuffling behind the door. "What is it?" asked a low voice, after a moment. She couldn't tell if it was male or female.

"Can I get like a twenty?" she asked.

"We don't do distribution here," came the reply. "Go talk to your dealer."

Kate groaned. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously."

"Well, could you sell me like an ounce?"

There was a long pause. "Two fifty," came the response, finally.

"That's not bad," she said.

"Yeah, it's not bad for some chick showing up at fuckin' manufacturing." The door opened a crack.

She pushed forward on it, hard, knocking it back into the person standing behind it. She pulled the gun from her waistband and stepped inside.

The voice belonged to a kid who looked no older than 20, with bright red hair. He had gone white, making the splash of freckles across his face stand out.

She glanced around, quickly. They were standing at the end of a long, dark corridor

"Let's keep it quiet, hmm?" said Kate. "No sudden movements or noises, nobody dies. What kind of security does this place have?"

He blinked at her, wordlessly.

"Alright," she said. "You got a gun?"

He shook his head, eyes wide.

She nodded. "Good. Okay, why don't we find you somewhere quiet to sit down until we're done here?"

She could see movement at the end of the corridor, and took a step back towards the door. She turned the handle gently and pulled it open. Johnny stepped inside and cast a dubious glance at her hostage.

"Harmless," she said, picking up a brick off the floor. She wedged it into the doorframe to stop the door from closing again.

"Shouldn't assume that," he said.

"No, no, she's right," said the kid, but shut up abruptly when Johnny turned to look at him.

"What's your job here?" he asked.

"Uh – shit. Admin stuff. Checking the doors."

"Yeah?" he sneered. "Great job you're doing."

The kid's face slowly flushed pink, but he stayed silent.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Why don't you show us around?" she asked. "If you could point out anyone that might shoot at us before they start shooting I'd appreciate it."

"Hey Alex," a voice called down the hallway. "You good?"

The kid's head jerked up. Kate nodded at him expectantly.

"Y-yeah," he called back. "I'm good."

"Are you talking to someone?"

"Talking to yourself," Kate whispered.

He half-turned around. "Just – talking to myself," he said.

A laugh echoed down the corridor. "I told you, man, you need a respirator, these fumes are fuckin' bad for you."

He laughed back, awkwardly. The corridor once again fell silent.

"Alex, huh?" she said. She gestured to herself with the gun. "Kate. This is Johnny."

"Are you going to-" He stopped abruptly. His eyes slowly slid towards Johnny.

Johnny grinned. "Hi."

"Oh, shit," Alex whispered.

"That's right," Johnny continued. "Now, if it was up to me, we wouldn't be doing it this way, so I suggest you do what the lady says."

"Oh, shit," Alex said again. "Okay. Follow me."

"How many labs?" asked Kate, walking close behind him.

"Um. Three along here. Three upstairs."

"What's down the end there?" She pointed.

"That's packing. There might be, uh, some people. Down there."

"Anywhere else?" she asked gently.

"Probably more upstairs."

The first room was empty a row of neatly arranged equipment on a table pushed up against the wall. The bottles were lined up and tubing carefully coiled and held together with cable ties. Kate nodded and they moved to the next. Alex opened the door and stepped through first, then motioned her through. Another college-student type was leaning over a Bunsen burner, brown hair falling in his face.

"Hey," croaked Alex. "Got someone to see you."

He straightened, and turned around. When he saw Kate's gun he took a shaky step back, knocking into the table behind him, rattling the bottles and almost knocking the flame against the wall.

"Careful," said Kate. "How do you feel about a change in management?"

His eyes flicked towards Alex. Kate could see him nodding frantically in her peripheral vision.

"Um, good," he said. "Great."

"Good answer," said Kate. "You a chem student?"

He nodded.

"Okay," she said. "Don't leave this room." They stepped back out.

"I don't know why you're doing it this way," said Johnny, as they approached the next door. "You always make things so fucking complicated."

"It saves us from finding new chemists," she said. "They already know how it goes. Plus, I'd feel bad for killing them. It's not their fault. They're just kids."

"Well it ain't society's fault," said Johnny. "They signed up for this shit. Pays better than Freckle Bitch's but you run the risk of being shot." He nudged Alex. "Right?"

Alex stumbled forward. Instead of answering, he pushed open the door to the next room. There was a girl in jeans in one corner writing notes, and a man in a green shirt holding a glass pipe, sitting on a chair. Kate raised the gun almost automatically. She just had time to see his eyes widen before squeezing the trigger.

The girl screamed.

"Stay in here, alright?" said Kate, as the Samedi slumped to the floor. "Stay here and you'll be fine. Don't try to leave, there are more people coming."

"Fuck, did something blow up again?" She could hear voices shouting from the hallway outside.

"This is more like it," said Johnny, circling around to the doorway, shotgun raised.

"You should probably stay here too," she said to Alex, punching him on the shoulder lightly. "Catch you later, buddy."

"Uh," he said. "Uh huh."

The blast of Johnny's shotgun in the corridor left her ears ringing. She raised her own pistol and followed him out the door.

There was already a trail of bodies leading out of the corridor. She looked back down the way they'd come. There was a Saint sticking her head through the door at the entrance.

"Can we come in yet?" she asked.

"Yeah!" said Kate. "Leave the side rooms alone, okay? I'm going upstairs." She turned.

"Need anyone with you?"

She paused, and looked back over her shoulder. "Yeah. You and, uh, whoever's behind you."

Saints began to flood in through the door.

"And I want people on that doorway, okay? Last five people inside right now stay where you are." She hesitated a moment more, trying to figure out if she'd covered everything. The two Saints she'd picked out had stopped next to her and were watching her expectantly. "All right," she said, at last. "Follow me."

Johnny had cut a path through the back room. Kate was able to head straight up the stairs, the other two close behind. She could hear gunfire from outside, muffled through the brick walls.

"Shit," the woman behind her reached for her gun, as a figure on the landing above them ducked back around the corner.

Kate held up a hand. "Who's up there?" she called out. "Is it just chemists?"

"Y-yeah?" a female voice called back, unsteadily.

"Any guns?" Kate asked.

"There's one over there," said the girl. "But no one's touching it."

"How many up there?"

There was a long pause. "Three."

"Okay," said Kate. "I'm coming up. Not going to shoot anyone unless they give me a reason."

There was no answer from upstairs.

"Christ," Kate said, to the woman next to her. "Gonna be a long night."

* * *

She'd been right. They'd managed to bring Laura in fairly early, which calmed the chemists down as they brewed tea in a beaker over a Bunsen burner, but the Samedi assault went for hours, far longer than Kate had been imagining. The waves of Samedi soldiers only slowed when she began to get calls from the Saints to confirm they'd taken the other labs, and it wasn't until just before dawn that they stopped completely.

Kate managed to get a couple of hours sleep on an old mattress in one of the upstairs rooms, but gave up when sunlight began streaming in the filthy windows, and went outside to look for coffee.

The streets were almost deserted in the morning air, although there were abandoned Samedi cars scattered over the street and footpath. She made it almost a block before getting out her phone and dialling.

"Hey, baby," said Shaundi. There was a muffled noise in the background. "It's just my friend Kate," she heard Shaundi say, indistinctly.

"Have a good night?" Kate asked.

"Mm-hmm," said Shaundi. "How about you?"

"Exhausting," said Kate.

"Yeah, same," said Shaundi. "What's up?"

Kate grinned. "Well, I want to start production today," she said.

She was dimly aware of a car pulling up the kerb behind her.

"And I was thinking I'd need some quality assurance," she continued.

"Oh my god," said Shaundi. "I'm so there."

"Let me just send you the main address," said Kate, turning to glance over her shoulder.

There was enough time to see a flash of green, and she didn't even have time to lift her arm to her face before there was a metal bat swinging towards her face.

* * *

She felt like she was buried. Underwater. Sinking slowly into the earth.

"Hey, I think she's waking up," said someone sitting next to her.

She struggled to lift her head, and opened her eyes blearily. The room was very small, and green, with guns stuck to the walls and four people sitting on leather seats watching her. The air seemed to shift and shimmer, as if it were liquid. The familiar pressure of the gun in the back of her waistband was gone.

"Oh," she said. "Oh, wow."

"Greetings, my friend." The man sitting opposite her leaned forward. His dark skin seemed somehow luminous, and he was wearing a white suit. "I have been looking forward to meeting the one who has caused us so much trouble."

"Who's that?" she asked.

"That," he said. "Would be you."

She blinked. "Oh. Wait, what?"

"Let me introduce ourselves," he said, smiling faintly. "I am known as the General. This-" he gestured at a man sitting to her left. "Is my good friend, Mr Sunshine."

She looked over at him. Mr Sunshine's skin was as dark as the General's, but the air around him seemed darker, distorting and twisting his face. She blinked, trying to clear her vision, but it persisted.

"Um, I'm Katie," she said. "No, wait, the other one. Kate. Katharine. Kat." She frowned pensively.

"And now that the introductions are concluded, we can-"

"Whe- where are you guys from?" she asked, interrupting him. "You sound like… Cool Runnings."

The man in white laughed, a rich, low chuckle. "Not far off, my friend. Geographically, at least. We are from Haiti."

"Didn't you guys have that earthquake?" she asked. "Look, sorry you got Sean Penn because of that, guy's an asshole."

The two leaders exchanged a glance. "We have not returned home in some time," Mr Sunshine said, carefully. "We are more interested in your city."

She grinned, sinking back in the seat. "It is my city," she said, touching her hand to her chest. "Thank you. You wouldn't believe how many people struggle with that."

The General's eyes narrowed, and the smile dropped off his face.

"You know," she said, pointing her finger at the General. "I _swear_ Haiti doesn't have a military."

He leaned back in the seat, his dark eyes watching her critically. "As my friend said – we have not been home in some time."

"Oh, so it's like an exile kind of thing. That must be hard." She pouted. "What does a general do when he's lost all his soldiers?"

"He moves countries and builds a new army," he said, his smile showing a flash of white teeth.

Kate leaned forward. The man sitting to her right made a grab for her arm, but the General shook his head, and the man sat back again. Kate barely noticed. "How are you finding the winters up here?" she asked. "Because we are a long way north. And I'm going to level with you, I hate them. I hate them and I grew up here, so I can't even imagine what coming from the Caribbean into this kind of shit is going to be like."

"This city has been inhospitable in a number of ways," he replied. "We have adjusted as necessary."

She smiled. "And - am I to take it you're unwilling to adjust to my presence?"

"At last," he said. "We come to the purpose of this meeting."

"I see where this is going." She crossed her legs. "And just before we start, there's something I really think you need to appreciate," she said.

"And what would that be?" He tilted his head.

"You know I was in a coma for some years."

"I had heard."

"You know how many people wake up after five years in a coma and are perfectly fine? Just step back into their lives like nothing happened?"

There was a pause before he answered. "No."

"None," she said. "Absolutely none. It doesn't happen. What you get if you wake up from a five-year coma is maybe the ability to say a couple of words. Shake someone's hand. It's a pretty impressive outcome if you can feed yourself after a year or two of rehab, or take a few steps on your own."

To the left, Mr Sunshine shifted his weight.

"So why did this happen to me?" she continued. "What did I get brought back for? Why me and not someone else?" She shrugged. "I don't know. But what I do know is that it's not an accident. I'm back for a purpose. And you may wish to consider your choices carefully with this in mind."

"The Loa walk with us," said Mr Sunshine. "We have power on our side as well."

"I don't see any point in fighting about who's got what backing them," said Kate. "But don't walk into this thinking I'm just like everyone else you've pushed out of the way so far."

"A strange place to make threats from," said the General.

She smiled. "It wasn't intended as a threat," she said. "And I'm sorry if that's the way it came across. It was meant to be more of a friendly discussion about our respective hopes and dreams for this city. I see no reason to get acrimonious at this stage."

The car slowed, and came to a halt.

"Would this be my stop?" she asked.

"It is not the end of the line for you just yet, my friend,"said the General. "You will need to come with us."


	39. Shoot the Runner

The sun outside was blinding, and Kate stumbled as the man she'd been sitting next to pulled her out into the light.

"Don't touch me," she snapped, shaking off his hand irritably.

They had pulled up in an open carpark in front of a large red brick complex. She could see the tall dark spire of Ultor's head offices as it rose into the sky, and the rotating dish on top of the Stilwater Police Station.

The air was salty; sharp and clear after the smoke-filled car, and the sun's rays were warm on her skin. She reached for her phone, absently, but it wasn't in her pocket, and she let her hand fall to her side with a shrug. All she could hear were gulls calling across the bay, the water lapping at the rocks, and the occasional ship's horn in the distance. It was so peaceful. She smiled into the morning air.

"If you'd follow me," said the General, before disappearing into a door in the side of the building. The word 'PACKING' was stamped on the brick wall in white paint. The two men who had pulled her off the street hovered behind her.

She cast a glance back at them before turning to Mr Sunshine. "So what's your thing?" she asked, as she began to walk. "Do you do – like, zombies, or what?"

His golden eyes narrowed to thin slits. "Do I do – zombies," he repeated, slowly, the harsh lines of his face twisting into a mask of confusion.

"That's actually probably a bit racist, isn't it?" she said. "On second thought. Like asking a gypsy if she's stolen anyone's baby recently." She grimaced. "Oh, wait, _fuck_ , you can't call them gypsies, can you? Because that's like, an ethnic slur. But, maybe that's kind of appropriate if you're trying to compare it to something else racist you just said, like asking a Haitian witch doctor if he makes people into zombies." She shook her head. "You are a witch doctor, right? Like, that's your thing? Because that's what I'm getting from you right now."

He cast her a wary glance, but didn't reply.

"Because like what's the deal with the skull on a stick?" she continued. "Because that's like a monkey skull, right?" She made a grab for it, but he whipped it out of her reach. "Looks monkey. Bit small for a human. Plus it's got those longer canines."

She followed him through the door, and stopped suddenly enough for the man behind her to walk straight into her. The air smelled like blood. The space inside was large and cavernous and dark, lit with eerie green bulbs swinging bare above them.

Two hands closed around her arms tightly, and she was half-pushed, half-carried forward, past a conveyor belt with glistening chunks of meat rolling along.

"I said," she snarled, struggling in his grip. "Don't _fucking_ touch me." She managed to work an arm halfway loose and drove her elbow back into his stomach. He released her reflexively, and she strode on grimly.

There were smears of blood along the walls and pools on the floor, seemingly ignored by Samedi and what seemed to be regular meat workers alike. Running along one wall was a rail, with carcasses carried along on hooks.

She caught up with Mr Sunshine next to a generator that was shaking alarmingly.

"This place is basically a health and safety nightmare," she said. "You know that, right?"

"Consider me unfamiliar with workplace regulation measures," he said, his voice a low hiss.

She ran her hand along the surface of a bench as she was passing. She stopped when she touched a large metal cleaver with a wooden handle. "I mean-" She picked it up, weighing it in her hand, watching it gleam in the dim green light. "Leaving these lying around isn't really a good idea."

Mr Sunshine paused, finally, turning to look at her warily.

She smiled. "Maybe you should familiarise yourself," she said.

A flicker in the corner of her vision made her spin, and she brought the knife down just as one of the men behind was reaching out towards her.

He gave a choked gasp. She barely felt it connect, but a spray of blood splattered across her cheek.

"I _fucking told you_ ," she roared. " _Twice_. You don't _fucking touch me_!"

He'd gone grey, staring at the end of his arm where his hand used to be.

The room went silent, as all eyes turned towards them.

Kate looked around. "Oh, what," she said. "Like no one's ever lost a body part in this place before."

She turned to look at Sunshine, but he was gone. She shrugged. "Good knife, though."

There was a scuffle of motion as a group of workers made for the door, and she turned in time to see the other man from the car reach for his gun. She grabbed the man closest to her by the front of his green t-shirt and shoved him into the second man hard, then ran for the door. She ducked through it just before the shooting started.

The door led to a stairwell, heading up. She didn't have time to check behind her, scrambling up the stairs two at a time, cleaver in hand, until she came to a doorway at the top.

She almost collided with a man holding an SMG, trying to head downstairs. He blinked at her for a moment, wide-eyed. She flinched, taking half a step back, but recovered enough to reach her arm back and swing the cleaver in an arc towards his neck. She'd misjudged the distance, though, and stared, slightly horrified, as his throat opened up, head lolling back, white bone almost visible through the wound.

She stepped over him and through the door. It was a large, open space, with two levels separated by a chasm in the middle and fenced off with iron bars. On the other side, a dark red circle had been smeared into the floor, with unfamiliar symbols all around it. Black candles were burning on the floor, the wax dripping onto the floorboards. She slowed, and came to a halt as Mr Sunshine stepped out onto the floor opposite.

"So can I like, go home yet?" she asked. "I mean, it's been fun, but also, what in the fuck."

"I don't think that's wise," he said, raising something in his hand. She took a step closer, trying to see what it was, but he lifted his other hand and did something to it and a wave of agony shot through her, so strong she dropped to her hands and knees.

Her vision went white. She couldn't breathe. When it faded, she was left lying in a heap, her forehead touching the floorboards beneath her.

"A pity the General couldn't stay to say goodbye," Mr Sunshine began. "But I think-"

She pushed herself back up onto her knees, lifted her arm, and hurled the cleaver towards him, muscles screaming. It spun towards him, end over end, until it lodged in his chest with a solid thud.

He looked down at it, as if confused.

She bolted, stumbling to her feet, and towards a door on the other side of the platform. Stairs again. She climbed them without hesitation, and ripped open the door at the top.

Sunlight, again, blinded her. She was on the flat, concrete roof, and could hear gunfire coming from below. She walked over, unsteadily, and looked down.

The parking lot was full of purple cars. She laughed, almost in disbelief, and leaned out over the edge.

She could pick out Johnny straight away, the remnants of the bleached tips of his hair catching the sunlight. Someone next to him nudged him and pointed up at her.

"Katie!" he yelled up at her. "You good?"

She spread her arms. "Yeah!" she called back. "Pretty good!" She started to swing a leg over the edge of the building.

"Whoa!" he yelled. "Whoa, whoa, wait! Get the fuck down from there or I will fuck you up."

"It's fine!" she called down. "I did some base jumping and now I don't get hurt if I fall off things."

"I don't give a fuck, okay?" Johnny yelled. "Take the fucking stairs or a fire escape or something."

She looked over her shoulder at the doorway back down into the building. It was still hanging open, the Saints out front drawing the Samedi away from her.

"Yeah, I could do that," she said, probably too quietly for Johnny to hear. She turned back, but her foot caught over the side of the building as she tried to take a step, and suddenly she was weightless.

She heard Johnny yell something, and then nothing.

* * *

She woke up to a quiet murmuring and the sound of footsteps. Everything was white and hazy and soft. There was a tube attached to her arm, and she took hold of it with one hand and started to pull.

"Leave it." The voice was familiar.

He was blurry, and one of her eyes wouldn't open, but she knew it was him by the way he leant against the wall.

"Oh, hey, it's you," she said, smiling slowly. "You always visit me in hospital. I mean you could've – could've brought flowers, but I'll let it go this time." Her words were slurring. She frowned.

"How you feeling?" Troy asked.

The room was wavering. "Where's my eye?" she asked. "I can't – feel my face."

He winced. "That's – probably for the best," he said. "That's a hell of a shiner you got there."

"Really?" She lifted a hand to her face. The area around her right eye was hot and swollen and smooth to the touch. She frowned, prodding at it.

"Don't do that," he said. He took a step towards her and caught her wrist, pulling it away gently. "Here." He leaned over her and covered her eye gently with something soft and cold. "Nurse said you'd need it now you're awake. Hold it there."

She lifted her hand to hold it in place, and looked up at him with her one good eye. He was still blurry. "Why are you here, Chief?" she asked. "Am I in trouble? Do you have a warrant?"

It was a moment before he replied. "I'm here because we had a shots fired report out in the Mills and a potential jumper."

"Jumper," she repeated.

"According to witnesses, you thought you could fly and jumped off a roof," he said.

She laughed. "Fly?" she asked. "Where? What roof?"

"You don't remember?" She could almost make out a frown on his face.

"Wait," she said. "The, um, cow. House. Dead cows house."

"Slaughterhouse," he supplied.

"Yeah. Hey, that's pretty high up."

"About forty feet," said Troy. "Maybe a little higher."

She concentrated as hard as she could, trying to move her arms and legs. They felt stiff and sore, but nothing seemed to really hurt when she moved it. "I don't feel broken," she said. "Am I broken?"

There was a long pause. "Apparently you might have a cheekbone fracture," he said. "They haven't x-rayed it yet."

"That's it? I guess-" She started laughing, making it hard to get out the rest of her sentence. "Guess I didn't – make much of an impact."

"Jesus fucking Christ," said Troy.

"I'm sorry," she said, still giggling. "I'm sorry. Were you worried?"

"You know what?" he said. "Yeah. I thought you might be dead." He reached into his pocket for his cigarettes. He got as far as opening the pack before closing it with a sigh and shoving it back into his pocket.

"Why?" she asked, gazing up at him. "Save someone's life and you're responsible for them forever? I read they made that up for TV."

"What, you think if you died I'd just fucking forget about it?"

"I think it'd probably be easier for you," she said. "But I'm not sure 'easy' is really what you go for."

He let out a long breath. "Wanna tell me what you were doing at a Samedi stronghold?"

"Oh my god, health and safety inspection," she said. "That place is disgusting. The meat doesn't go to stores for human consumption, does it? Because if it does I'm becoming a vegetarian."

"Why don't you try again," he said.

"Nah, I'm serious." She tried to push herself up on her pillows, but her arms were too wobbly to support her weight. "And then some guy kept trying to grab me so I cut his hand off. It was actually a lot of fun. Reminded me of the old days, you know?" Her eyes widened. "holy shit, do you remember that one time you lit a cigarette off a dead guy?"

He froze. "Uh," he said, after a moment. "Y-yeah."

"I was just like _dude_ ," Kate crowed, grinning. "Shit was fucked up."

"Things were – different back then," he said, tightly.

"I know, right?" she said. "Do you ever miss being in the Saints?"

They both fell silent as footsteps began to approach from the corridor outside. A nurse walked past the door without looking in.

Troy waited until she was out of earshot. "You know," he said. "I was just thinking the other day that I really fucking miss getting shot at a lot and living in constant fear of getting found out. Lot of nostalgia there."

"I'm kind of glad we didn't find out," she said. "Is that weird? Because then I guess we would have had to do something about it."

"Uh, yeah," he said. "Me too."

"What would have happened?" she asked. "Like I don't even – even know how that would have gone down."

"Shit, I don't know," he said. "Used to have this dream where Julius would call me in and when I got inside the church there'd just be all the lieutenants standing in a circle. Johnny and Dex and – Jesus. Lin. One of them would have a gun. Not always the same person. Usually Johnny. Once it was you."

She smiled. "I was there?"

"After a while," he said. "You gonna remember this later?"

"Did I shoot you?"

"No one did," he said. "Always woke up before that part."

"I wouldn't have," she said, blinking slowly.

He let out a long breath. "Yeah?" he said. "What would you have done if you'd found out? Before anyone else."

"I don't know," she began. "Probably asked you about it."

"No you wouldn't," he said.

"You think?" she asked. "I – trusted you. Quite a lot."

He was quiet for so long that her eyes began to drift closed.

"Yeah," he said, finally. "You did."

"You always made me feel – safe," she said, sleepily. He pushed himself away from the wall and walked around to the side of her bed, moving out of her field of vision as he crossed to the side of her swollen eye.

She turned her head to be able to see him as he lifted the icepack from her face. "How's it look?" she asked.

She could only just feel it as he ran his thumb along her cheekbone. "Seen worse," he said. "Usually in car wrecks, though."

She grinned. "That bad?"

"Least they won't have to wire your jaw," he said.

"I have this need to make a blowjobs joke about wired jaws," she said."But I can't words properly right now."

"You're not just concussed, are you?" he asked, leaning a little closer. "You're high as a fucking kite."

"Kite – kites don't really go that high," she said. "I'm feeling 'hot air balloon'. Maybe helicopter." She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. "Don't tell me you didn't get high when you were like, seventeen," she continued. "Because I won't believe you."

"The fuck did you take?" he asked.

"I didn't get _myself_ this high," she said, indignantly. "This is not intentional and I don't feel very good. It was the car. The gun car. They fucking hotboxed the car, with the skull on the stick and the guy. It's all the nail polish remover."

"Wait – what guy?" asked Troy.

Her vision was clearing, finally. "You have really long eyelashes," she said.

"Jesus Christ," he said. "I'm getting the nurse."

"No," she complained. "The guy. I don't remember what his name is but it's a nice name. Happy. I don't know why he has a skull on a stick. The other one was like – something military."

She saw his jaw tighten. "You talking about the General?" he asked quietly.

"General," she said, smiling. "That's it."

"And the first guy would be Sunshine."

"That's right. Happy."

"What happened?"

"Um." She frowned. "I – think I basically tried to tell them I was Jesus?"

There was a long pause. "What?" Troy asked finally, flatly.

She closed her eyes. "I don't remember how that came up," she said. "It was very important to me at the time, though."

"Katie," said Troy, gently. "What in the fuck happened?"

"I don't know," she grumbled. "They hit me. With a-" She shook her head. "Round thing. I got this row of cuts on the inside of my cheek from my teeth. This-" She gestured at her face. "Isn't even from falling off a roof."

"Round thing?"There was an edge of concern in his voice that hadn't been there before.

She frowned. "Um. Not round. It's a game. Baseball. Baseball stick."

" _Bat_ ," he said. "I think you're gonna need a brain scan."

"I'm fine," she said. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I could get up and leave now."

"You're getting less coherent," he said.

"This is my natural level of coherence," she said. "My face is kind of starting to hurt though."

"I'm going to get someone to come take a look at you," he said, taking a step back.

"Can you tell them I wanna be sedated?" she asked. "Hey, did you listen to the Ramones when you were a kid?"

He hesitated for a moment. "I – you weren't even born when that song came out," he said.

She grinned. "Were you?"

"Just," he said, absently, shaking his head. "Listen, Katie, I'll check up on you later, okay?"

"You're so dramatic," she said, closing her eyes. "Everything's fine."

"Yeah," he said. "Hope so. See you later."

His footsteps echoed down the hall.


	40. Chapter 40

It was almost dark when Johnny showed up.

He tossed something onto the bed. It hit her foot and slid down the white hospital bedspread.

"Found your phone," he said.

"Oh, hey!" Kate reached forward to pick it up, and turned it over. The screen was shattered. "Aww." The screen flickered weakly when she pressed the home button.

"Think someone ran over it." He shrugged. "How you doing?"

She put the phone down. "Um. Hungry?"

He cracked half a smile, but it was gone just as fast. "You wanna tell me what any of that was about?"

"You mean like the roof thing?" she asked. "I don't really remember it, but I also don't really understand either. Are you still going to fuck me up? I do remember that bit."

He sat down on the end of the bed. "Looks like you did a good enough job of that already."

"My face feels better," she said.

"Doesn't look much better. But then, it doesn't look that great most of the time, so-" He ducked back out of reach as she leaned forward to slap him.

"Asshole. Did you bring me here?"

"Didn't trust anyone else to do it," he said. "You weren't making any goddamn sense. Had to get straight back, though."

"Oh yeah, how'd the rest of that go?" She leaned forward.

He tilted his head thoughtfully. "Not bad. They weren't expecting us." He paused for a moment. "Kind of distracted, too. Guess that'd be because of you."

She smiled. "How'd you even find me?"

"One of the girls saw you getting pulled into the car and followed you out to the Mills. Fuck knows what would have happened if she hadn't."

"I got away from everyone," she complained.

"Still have the problem of you taking a swan dive off the fucking roof," he said. "You said something about base jumping."

She frowned, closing her eyes. "I don't know," she said. "I don't really remember anything much past the guy with the voodoo doll."

He stared at her flatly for a moment. "Let's just forget it," he said. "I don't even want to know any more."

She laughed wearily. "Jesus Christ. What a fucking night. The whole thing."

"We came out of it okay," said Johnny. "Minimal casualties."

She nodded. "Oh, hey, did you find my knife? It was such a good knife."

He frowned. "Don't remember a knife," he said. "What did it look like?"

"Oh, it was awesome." Kate leaned back into the pillows. "Big old butchery cleaver thing. Heavy. And so sharp! Good for cutting – what's that word? A-abrogate- no. Articulate?"

"I have no idea what you're trying to say," he said.

"The thing where you cut through something at the joint and separate it," she said, rubbing her forehead. "Anyway what I'm trying to tell you is that a guy kept trying to grab me and I cut his hand off with it and it was so fucking great."

Johnny's smile this time was more genuine. "Yeah, we found a hand," he said, leaning towards her. "Was wondering what that was about. And then – was the guy upstairs you as well? You almost cut his fuckin' head off."

"Yeah!" She grinned. "Holy shit, it was actually really fun. I mean, it could have been because I was high as balls." She laughed. "But I just – haven't felt like that for a while. You know? Fucking shit up and not, like, worried about anything, like what's going to happen later, or what might go wrong if I do this, or-"

"I am so fucking glad," Johnny said. "To hear you weren't worried about a goddamn thing."

She smiled softly. "So you didn't like being rescuer instead of rescuee for once?"

"It is bullshit," he said, looking at her over the top of his glasses. "It's fucking bullshit."

"So are you going to be any more careful from now on?" she asked.

"Wait," he said. "Wait. How did this turn into me being more careful?"

"Well it's my first offence," she said. "Isn't that like a legal defence thing?"

He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. "Whatever," he said, standing up. "You gonna get your lazy ass out of that bed or do I have to carry you?"

She pushed herself up on her arms, testing her strength. "Yeah, alright," she said, swinging her legs out of the bed. "This isn't too-"

Her vision went grey as she stood up, and next thing she knew she was half leaning against Johnny, his hands gripping her arms.

"Shit." She closed her eyes for a moment.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she said. "Been lying down for too long and stood up too fast. I think. Don't actually carry me, okay, or they won't let me out."

He let go of her, and she sat down on the bed until the grey blotches were gone.

"You sure?"

He raised her head. "Still making sense, aren't I?"

"About as much as you usually do."

She smiled, and stood up gingerly, one hand on the bed for support. "Okay," she said. "This time."

She made her way down the hall, Johnny following close behind, and stopped at the reception desk, piled high with paper. The nurse behind it looked up at her.

"Hey, I'm leaving," said Kate. "Do I need to sign anything?"

The nurse reached for a folder and flipped through the pages. "Uh, we'd rather you didn't," she said, looking up. "You've had a serious head injury, and-"

"I don't have medical insurance," said Kate.

"God damnit," said the nurse, closing the folder resignedly.

"And goodbye," said Kate, grinning, as she pushed herself away from the desk. "You can send my bill care of the Hapton, I'll probably pay it one day."

She followed Johnny through the automatic glass doors and outside to his car. The air was surprisingly cold.

"Why don't we have medical insurance, anyway?" he asked.

"Oh, I looked into it," she said, lowering herself into the passenger seat. "The list of exclusions is fucking ridiculous though. Like, you only get cover for gun-related injuries if they're hunting or accidental; if you get injured while evading arrest that's not covered; if you have a head injury or a car accident and go to hospital they won't pay unless you get a blood test to prove you're not drunk or high; and most of them have an exclusion clause for injuries suffered while in commission of a crime, although I feel like that one might be hard to prove either way. Basically not worth it."

She shrugged as Johnny started to drive. "Oh, and if you get kidnapped, you don't get cover for the first two fingers they cut off to send back with the ransom notes. I mean, there's protecting your investment, right, and then there's basically being Satan. Besides-" she yawned. "We mostly do our own kidnapping rescues so what's the point?"

Johnny yawned reflexively, and shot her a glare when she smiled. "Where am I taking you, anyway?" he asked. "You want to come back to HQ? Got some things to sort out."

Kate turned her head towards the window to watch the streetlights flicker on. "Let's do that tomorrow. I'll come over first thing. I just don't think I have much-" she waved a hand, "-planning ability going on right now."

"Yeah, okay," he said.

She was expecting him to say more, to make a joke, but he didn't. They drove for a few minutes in silence.

"So what happened to your knife?" he asked, eventually.

"Oh," she said. "Yeah. I ended up throwing it at like, oh, what's his name? One of the leaders. Not the one in white."

"Did you hit him?" Johnny asked. "We didn't find anyone else."

"Yeah." She frowned. "I did. In the chest."

He shrugged. "Single knife wound to the chest isn't a death sentence."

"Guess you're kind of an expert on both of those things," she said, settling into the seat and smiling at him.

He cast her a sideways glance. "You're a fuckin' nerd," he said. "Could you slide down in your seat a little more? I'm embarrassed people can see you in my car."

Her smile turned into a grin. "So, like, thanks for rescuing me and shit," she said.

"Don't get used to it." He turned left at the freeway off ramp, and pulled into the hotel driveway. "I'm not doing it again."

"Yeah? What'd you do without me?"

He didn't smile at that. "You ever thought about getting some kind of, uh, protection?" he asked, as the car came to a halt.

"Are we having the birds and the bees talk?" asked Kate. "Because I'm not sure I'm ready for that."

He closed his eyes. "Fuck. No. Like a bodyguard."

"Are you kidding me?" She smiled up at him. "Fuck off. That's what I've got you f-" the words caught in her throat, but she forced herself to finish the sentence anyway. "-for."

He looked away. "Yeah," he said, quietly. "Well, things don't always work out like that, you know?"

The word _sorry_ was on her lips, but she held it back. "Um," she said. "Yeah. Maybe. I basically hate being around people all the time, though. Awkward."

"They don't have to sleep in your fuckin' bed," he said, then smiled faintly. It almost looked real. "Although…"

She laughed a little too loudly. "Not really feeling very Whitney Houston right now," she said. "Look, I'll think about it, alright? There's been – too much of this shit lately."

"Yeah," he said, again. "Thanks. Well, see you tomorrow."

Kate got out of the car, clutching her smashed phone, and watched unhappily as he pulled a U-turn and drove the wrong way back up the driveway. She watched as he disappeared from sight, then sighed and turned to go back inside.

She avoided making eye contact with herself in the mirror-panelled Hapton elevators and let herself in to the apartment with her swipecard, but then she stopped dead. On the table, in front of the entranceway, there was a huge bouquet of purple flowers. She approached them slowly, and touched the petals of a flower gently to reveal a gold streak at the centre. Irises.

She ruffled through the bouquet, trying to find a note, and finally located a small white card, folded in half. When she opened it, it was blank. She dropped it back on the table irritably, stared at the bouquet for a moment more, then turned to go upstairs. She needed some sleep.


	41. Resurrection

Kate woke up early the next morning, with a dry mouth and a pounding headache. Her muscles groaned as she rolled out of her bed. She stumbled in the half-light to the bathroom and looked in the mirror for the first time since the accident.

She barely recognised herself. There were dark purple bruises smudged around her eye, and the skin along one cheekbone was split, angry and red. The swelling had gone down, but not entirely. At least she could see out of both eyes now.

She shrugged off the singlet she'd slept in and turned around, looking at the mirror over her shoulder. A thick black blotch ran down her right side, shoulderblade to hip, tapering off at her knee. She poked it, not as gently as she should have, and winced. She stretched, slowly. She could walk it off.

The sky outside was dark and grey, heavy with the threat of rain. Driving seemed like an insurmountable effort, so she walked to the nearest stop on the El train line and caught it into town.

Someone had rigged up an elevator system at HQ. She stopped, and stared at it for a moment. It had a button that lit up when she pressed it. She waited until the car arrived, the doors rattling open, and then walked past it and down the rickety wooden stairs.

Johnny was sitting at the table just above the main room, shotgun half-assembled in front of him.

"Hey," he said, absently. "Didn't expect to see you this early." After a moment, he looked up again, with a frown. "You okay? You look like shit."

"I always look like shit," she mumbled. "Do we have a coffee machine down here?"

"Yeah," he said. "It's downstairs. It's not exactly Apollo's, but it'll do."

"I love shitty coffee," she said, following him down the staircase, one hand on the carved stone rail. "With like fifty percent sugar and thirty kinds of syrup."

"Certified worst taste in everything," said Johnny, but his heart didn't seem to be in it.

She passed the marble statue on the staircase, then stopped and turned back to look at it. "Wait," she said. "Wait. What's happening here?"

Two cardboard wings had been tied to the sculpture, and a string of fairy lights had been wrapped around it.

He turned back to look at it. "Some of the guys wanted to replace it with something a little less – uh, boring," he said with a shrug.

"Oh, no," she said. "I love classical sculpture. Also this must be worth a shitload. Can I get this moved to my apartment if we're going to get something else?"

"I'm not even fucking surprised you want to take it," he said. "I'll get someone to sort it out."

They continued down to the ground floor. The machine behind the bar was the 'one touch' button type, where the coffee and milk was automatic. She found a reasonably clean cup and pressed the button, watching dubiously as grey-brown liquid dribbled into her mug.

She lifted it, took a sip and closed her eyes. It was a moment before she could speak. "This is disgusting," she said.

"Told you."

She took another sip reluctantly. "Ugh."

"You don't have to keep drinking it," he said.

"I don't have a choice," she said. "It's this or be incoherent the rest of the day."

"And how would that be different to normal?" he asked.

She looked sideways at him. "I feel kind of hung over," she said.

"Oh yeah, head injuries can do that," he said. "You'll get used to it."

She glared at him and took another sip, swallowing hard. "This coffee tastes like cardboard and cleaning fluid." She paused. "How you doing, anyway?"

"Could you do me a favour," he said. "And just stop asking me that?"

She looked at him for a long time. "Yeah," she said, finally.

He sighed. "Thanks. Give me a minute, I'll call the others down here." He pulled out his phone.

She leaned her elbows on the counter, but flinched back when a sharp bolt of pain ran up both arms. She lifted her arms up to see them. More bruises. She tried to stretch, as gently as she could, and grimaced at the stiffness in her shoulders.

"You done with your yoga?" Johnny stepped back into the room.

"Kinda sore," she said. "I could do with like, a massage or something."

"Yeah?" said Johnny, shooting her a wolfish grin. "I know a couple of places."

She hesitated a moment before returning the smile wryly. "I have this feeling we're not talking about the same type of massage here."

He shrugged. "You can always say no to the happy ending."

"I'm actually tempted," she admitted. "But only because I'm already convinced they'll have very strong fingers." Her eyes widened. "Wait. For massage purposes."

He raised an eyebrow. "Sure."

"Either that or I need to get someone to walk on my back," she said thoughtfully.

"You know, they can do that too," said Johnny. "Just saying."

"I don't even want to hear you say anything else about it," she said. "So, I've been wondering for a while, is 'Gat' like your real last name or what?"

He grinned. "What do you think?"

"See, it seems like a reasonably plausible East-to-Southeast Asian name," she said. "But then again it's awfully convenient."

"It is, isn't it?"

"Christ you're an asshole," she said.

"And you're perfectly forthcoming with all of your personal history," he said. "I see how this works."

She took another gulp of the coffee. "It is really boring," she said, putting it back down. "You'd be disappointed."

"Yeah, I'm used to that," he said, but grinned when she turned a wide-eyed stare at him. "Nah, I'm just fuckin' with you. I don't care about whoever you used to be, Katie, you know that."

She couldn't speak for a moment, then slowly returned the smile. "Doesn't matter anyhow, I guess," she said.

"That's right."

The lieutenants arrived shortly afterwards. Kate gathered them around the table in the centre of the floor.

"Alright," she said. "What have we got?"

"Okay," said Shaundi. "Okay, listen. We need to find the General, right? And he gets driven around in that limo all the time."

Kate nodded. "Yeah."

"So the cops have traffic cams pretty much everywhere. What we do is, we dress as maintenance staff, sneak into the police station, and hack into their camera system. After we've done that, we can monitor it ourselves."

Kate blinked at her. "Wow," she said. "That sounds – um. Intensely complicated. Why – uh, why don't you let me see if I can think up an easier way of doing that?"

Shaundi's shoulders slumped.

"No no no," said Kate hurriedly. "It's a good idea. I wouldn't have thought of going after the limo. Like, this way we can figure out when and where they're going to be most vulnerable. Just there has to be an easier way of getting that information."

"Yeah?" said Johnny, watching her with narrowed eyes. "Like what?"

She looked up at him warily. "Well, I don't know yet," she said. "Because I haven't thought about it. If I don't figure out anything better, we'll go with this, okay?"

"What's wrong with Shaundi's plan?" He leaned forward.

Kate glanced sideways at Shaundi, who had folded her arms uncomfortably. "I think it's too risky for what we ultimately get out of it. That's my personal opinion."

"Well I think it's just fine," Johnny said. "Been wanting to pay the PD a visit for a while now."

Kate clasped her hands together and leaned forward over the table. "Noted," she said, crisply. "Pierce?"

Pierce, wide-eyed, glanced from her, to Johnny, back to her.

"When you're ready," Kate said, smiling thinly.

"The, uh, the Ronin have increased their presence round here a lot lately," he said. "Scuffles on the street, couple of drive-bys. I think they're building up to something."

"Okay, let's up security," she said, nodding. "Get people on the roofs or some shit. Can we find out where – uh, that old guy's staying?"

"Akuji?"

"Yeah." She waved a hand dismissively. "Probably."

"Working on it," said Pierce. "Ever since Vogel sold them out they've been a little jumpy."

She leaned back in her chair. "You think he'd talk to us?"

"We are not fuckin' talking to Akuji," said Johnny.

"Alright," said Kate, turning to look at him. "This one's up to you. But we don't know if he had anything at all to do with – to do with the order to kill Aisha." She'd forced herself to say the words, but they felt heavy and dull coming out of her mouth.

"I don't give a shit," said Johnny, leaning forward over the table. "We're not talking to him."

She pressed her lips together, and nodded. "Okay," she said. "No talking. We find him and we kill him. Then mop up whatever's left. There shouldn't be much."

He glared at her for a moment more, then sat back. "Okay," he replied.

"Carlos." She forced a smile. "We've been through your plan, right? The one with the truck – derby – thing. I've been thinking about it for a while and I would really – really – like if we could just shut all their shit down in the middle of the show, instead of blowing them up or whatever."

"Fuck is the point of that?" Johnny asked.

"I want to embarrass them," she said. "If it's an attack they'll know how to react. This way they won't know what's going on, and there'll be thousands of people watching. How many does the Stilwater U Arena sit?"

"Thirty thousand," supplied Carlos.

"Exactly. I'm after humiliation here. In the first instance."

"Why?" Johnny demanded.

She shrugged. "Because he's all about image," she said. "Look at him. Huge guy. Huge muscles. Tattoos everywhere. Make him look like an idiot and none of that's going to mean shit."

For a moment she thought he was going to keep arguing, but he looked away instead, shrugging a shoulder. "Whatever," he said.

She let out a slow breath. "Right," she said to Carlos. "Give Donnie a call, would you? Get him to come down."


	42. Redneck

"Meet back at HQ afterwards, okay?" Kate said, leaning in Donnie's car window. "If we get seen together you'll be in trouble, so if you do run into us by accident, pretend you don't know us. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it," said Donnie.

"Take care, man," said Carlos.

"Seriously," said Kate. "I have absolutely no interest in trying to organise a rescue mission at the last minute, so please don't put me in that position."

He frowned. "Does that mean you wouldn't come get me?"

She rolled her eyes. "No," she said. "Just I don't want to. And I can't guarantee they wouldn't cut your hands off or something first. So don't fuck up."

He gave her a long stare before turning the key in the ignition. She straightened up, and he pulled out of the carpark without another word.

"Good pep talk, boss," said Carlos.

"I worry about him," she said. "Meet me back here in like-" she checked her watch. "Two hours. I'm going to go get changed to try and fit in with people who'd go to a demolition derby. Go put on a trucker cap or something."

She waved a hand at him as she got into her own car and followed Donnie out onto the road.

* * *

Kate and Carlos pulled up to the curb across the road from the university stadium. Culex Stadium was a large neoclassical brick building, with huge arching stained glass windows and bas-relief panels placed almost too high to see. It looked more like a grand train station than a motorsport arena.

Kate sighed, and got out of the car, Carlos behind her, and they dodged through the traffic as they crossed to the other side.

She hadn't been back to the campus in almost nine years. It almost felt like longer. She recognised parts of it - the older buildings, in particular - but the building boom that had ensnared the rest of the city had evidently been felt at Stilwater U as well. It had an almost unreal feeling to it.

She paused on the other side of the road, next to an oversized statue of a boxing glove, with "Lady Katherine the Vivacious" written underneath in brass letters. She stared at it, the gold paint flaking off the concrete and the chipped brick pillar holding it up.

Carlos noticed she had stopped a moment later, and turned back. "That's not – you're not a boxer, are you?" he asked.

She laughed half-heartedly. "No," she said. "I just used to walk past here all the time and look at it and-" she cut herself off abruptly. "And – yeah." She gave it a last, rueful look, before setting her jaw and striding towards the entrance, Carlos following along in her wake.

They slowed as they joined the rest of the crowd, milling around the entrance as they waited to get in.

"You okay?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah," she said. "So you think I look like a boxer?"

He frowned for a second, but caught up quickly. "Wouldn't be the first time you've surprised me," he said with a grin.

She smiled back. "Surprised Johnny hasn't managed to tell you how my canonisation went," she said.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"Remember Donnie's?" she asked.

He nodded, slowly.

"Bit better."

He laughed.

"Don't go around telling people that," she said. "It's probably bad for my image."

They edged through the doors. The crowd was a mix of people, mostly college kids; drunk rednecks over from Elysium Fields; a handful of families; a pack of Brotherhood recruits in red.

She hadn't meant to get noticed as she glanced over, but one of the Brotherhood turned towards her. His eyes widened, startled, and a moment later a petite blonde girl followed his stare. It was Jessica. She cocked her head quizzically. Kate offered her a half smile and leaned slightly towards Carlos.

"Call Donnie," she said quietly. "And tell him to get the fuck out. I don't care if he's done or not, he needs to get out now."

Carlos reached for his phone without a word. Kate could half hear the muttered conversation as she watched Jessica and the rest of the group file through one of the doors from the lobby to the arena.

"He says two minutes," said Carlos, looking up.

She grabbed the phone out of his hand. "You get no minutes," she hissed at Donnie. "We got seen, so they'll be wondering why we're here. If they're not there now, it won't be long. Get the fuck out of there and get back to HQ. Now."

"Shit," he said. "Alright, I'm heading out."

"And send me a message once you're home safe."

"Sure thing," he said. "Mom."

He disconnected the call, leaving her staring at the phone in her hand.

"Is he okay?" asked Carlos.

She handed the phone back to him, frowning. "Has he always been that much of a little shit?" she asked.

Carlos grinned. "He's getting more confident, right?"

"I liked him better before," Kate said, as they neared one of the entrances.

"Really?"

"I liked you better before, too," she continued. "No one's scared of me any more."

He looked down.

"It's a joke," she said hurriedly. "Sorry."

"I can't tell sometimes," he said quietly.

She winced. "Sorry," she said again. "It's probably hard to tell because I'm not actually that funny. Anyway, just assume always a joke. That'd be easier."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

He led her up through the rows of seating until they were at an almost-deserted spot near the back. She looked around, counting the rows to the nearest fire exit. She couldn't see where the Brotherhood was sitting.

She sat down on the hard plastic seat and put her feet up on the back of the chair in front of her. The air smelled like gasoline and burnt rubber.

"You sure that's everything on your mind?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Well. I keep pissing Johnny off, I guess. And it's actually making him unhappy. But I don't know how to stop."

Carlos was looking at her, eyes wide.

She grimaced. "Pretend I didn't say that," she said. "I shouldn't be talking to you about this shit anyway."

"Why not?"

"Unprofessional," she said, glumly.

"Unprofessional?" he repeated. "According to who? You going to hire an HR department or something?"

She grinned and ran a hand through her hair. "I think I'd run into trouble on the bit that says something about providing a safe working environment," she said.

"See?" he said, smiling. "Don't worry. I'm not going to get you in trouble."

"It's still kind of like gossiping."

"So?" he shrugged, taking a bite of his hot dog. "What else are you gonna do, not tell anyone anything? That's not good for you."

"I guess," she said.

"So, if you need somebody to talk to..." he said.

She smiled. "Okay," she said. "Thanks. Hey, you didn't send me flowers, did you?"

"No," he said. "Did you want me to?"

She laughed. "No! Getting flowers makes me feel kind of nervous. Like someone expects something from me. I don't know, maybe it was the hotel or something."

He grinned, and put his feet up on the back of the chair in front of him. "Maybe you got a secret admirer."

She grimaced. "I really hope not. Better not be that creepy guy I see in the elevator sometimes."

"But don't-" Carlos began, but he was cut off by the lights dimming and the announcer's voice blaring over the speaker system.

" _ARE YOU READY FOR METAL MAYHEM AND MADNESS?_ "

The sound of revving engines filled the arena. Colored lights began whirling as the gates opened and the trucks drove slowly out onto the dirt floor, facing each other.

"Tonight we have special guest Maero," began the announcer. "We'll be starting off with a bang-"

Kate winced. A speaker just behind the seats they'd picked rattled with every word.

Kate leaned towards Carlos. "Heard from Donnie?" She almost had to yell to be heard.

He checked his phone, looked up at her, and shook his head. "Should I call him?"

She looked at him for a moment and then shook her head. "Not yet. Don't distract him."

The coloured spotlights converged on the arena floor, one on each truck. There were three Brotherhood cars; two with old muscle car bodies and Maero's truck.

The crowd was cheering, screaming in anticipation.

" _Three! Two! One!_ "

Kate held her breath. The cars roared forward into the arena.

Maero's truck, the largest on the field and gleaming red under the stadium lights, made it maybe ten feet before it choked and sputtered to a stop, smoke streaming from the hood.

Kate smiled, touching her fingers to her lips.

Carlos leaned over. "Told you he was good."

" _And it looks like Maero's in trouble,_ " the speaker rattled behind them. " _I don't know what's going wrong, but he's just made himself the biggest, easiest target on the field._ "

The other cars were circling hesitantly. The other Brotherhood cars in the match had parked up defensively in front of Maero's truck, and for a long moment they faced off against each other, waiting.

The arena was almost silent. She could hear the whine of Maero's engine as he tried over and over to get it working again.

One of the drivers made their move, throwing their car into gear and speeding towards the side of the truck, trying to get it to roll.

One of the Brotherhood cars tried to match them, setting themselves on a trajectory that would have knocked them off course, but the car careened off course and sped into a wall.

"I'm impressed," she said to Carlos.

The third Brotherhood car, gently, burst into flames. The driver leapt from the car and started running towards the safety barrier.

 _"Ladies and gents,_ " said the announcer. " _I gotta admit - this is not what I had in mind when I promised you madness and mayhem._ "

The car aiming for Maero's had hit it just behind the passenger's side door, but it had barely even made a dent. It was just backing up for another attempt when Maero opened the door, gun in hand, and fired two shots into the car's windscreen. The arena went deathly still.

"And that's us," said Kate, standing up.

"Already?" asked Carlos. "Looks like it's just getting started."

"Oh yeah," said Kate, picking her way to the end of the row. "We gotta get out of here before this turns into a stampede. Plus they'll be looking for us now. Let's hurry."

They took the nearest fire exit door, setting off an alarm as it opened, and ran for the car. Kate slid into the passenger seat, motioning for Carlos to drive, and called Donnie from her cellphone.

He answered on the second ring. "How'd it go?" he asked.

"Fantastic," she said. "Better than I could have expected. You at HQ right now?"

"Yeah."

"Well get used to the view, because you can not show your face outside for like a month."

"Are you telling me I'm grounded?" he asked, but he was laughing.

"Hey, we got cable," she said. In the rear view mirror she could see people flooding out of the stadium. Police cars were pulling up outside, lights flashing.

"I'll tell you all about it when we get back okay?" she continued. "You have done a great job, Donnie. Well done."

She shared a grin with Carlos as they sped off towards home.


	43. Chapter 43

Kate got back to the Hapton late that night, tossing her bag on the table next to the vase of wilting irises. She filled up the vase with fresh water from the kitchen and was setting it back on the table when her phone rang.

The words 'private number' were showing up on the caller ID.

She picked up and lifted the phone to her ear slowly. "Yeah?"

"Kate." It was Dex. "I hear you've been busy."

She grinned, leaning against the table.

"It's been an interesting couple of days," she said. "You been keeping an eye on me?"

"You'd be surprised how many Channel 6 'breaking news' bulletins make me think of you."

"That's so sweet," she said. "Which one was your favourite? That slaughterhouse one was a fucking mess, just so you know."

"I did know," he said. "As a matter of fact. Did you like the flowers I sent?"

She turned to look at the vase on the table. "That was you?" she asked, tilting her head to one side. "Do you have my apartment bugged?"

He was silent for a moment. "Uh - no," he said hesitantly. "What?"

"I'm sure I was having a conversation here about what flowers fleur de lis' are meant to be the other day."

"Well - uh, I don't have your apartment bugged. I did know about irises being the fleur de lis, though." He paused. "I just thought you'd like them."

"Uh huh," she said. "So, you know of any companies that can do a good bug sweep?"

He sighed. "Are you actually serious?" he asked. "Because Ultor does a decent line in high tech detection technologies and I could send something over if you like."

She laughed. "No, I'm not serious." She opened the fridge, wedging the phone in between her ear and he shoulder, and poured a glass of wine. "I feel like it's been ages since I saw you last."

"That's actually what I called you about," he said. "I want you to come to something."

"Something?"

"The mayor's hosting a fundraiser ball in a couple of weeks' time. I want you to come with me."

"Why?" she asked. "You planning a jewel heist?"  
"Not exactly," he said.

"Interesting," she said, taking a sip of the wine. "Then what's your angle?"

"My angle?"

"What am I there for? What kind of - effect - am I meant to cause?"

"Can't a guy just take his friend to a dance without it having to have any kind of effect?"

"You can," she said. "I guess. But would you?"

"You're an interesting person to know, Katie," he said. "Having you on my arm would shake things up to no small degree."

"Then what do I get out of it?" she asked. "Aside from the pleasure of your company, of course."

"You get access to everyone who's anyone," he said. "Although still not for the purposes of a jewel heist."

"I'm not real big on networking," she said. "Not gonna lie."

"I'll be with you," he said. "I can introduce you to some equally interesting people. Plus, there's an open bar if you need a little encouragement to chat."

"Should have led with that," she said. "I'm in."

He laughed. "I'll remember that."

"Send me the details, then," she said. "I'll buy something pretty to wear."

* * *

She was woken by the buzzing of her phone as it vibrated on the wooden dresser. It was still dark. She reached for her phone and picked up, blearily. It was 4 AM.

"Mm?"

"It's Carlos." Donnie's voice was panicked and harsh.

"What?" she asked, blearily. "What's Carlos?"

"They've got him."

She sat up. "Who? Brotherhood?"

"Just grabbed him right off the fuckin' street," he said, his rapid breaths rattling into the speaker. "Just outside HQ."

"Where'd they take him?" she asked, climbing out of bed. She reached for last night's clothes, her heart pounding. "Fuck."

"I don't know!" he said. "I went back for my car, but they've gone."

"Well, you know them," she said, urgently. "Do they have anywhere they take people?"

"I don't know," he said again. "I was just the fucking mechanic, okay?"

"Donnie, Jesus Christ, just try and think." She struggled into a jacket. "Would they take him to someone's house? Did you ever overhear anyone talking about stuff like this? Anything?"

"I don't- n-no, wait. By the docks. There's a - warehouse, I think."

"Okay," she said. "Good. Where are you now? I'll come meet you."

"Still by fucking HQ," he said. "They _just_ left, I have to-"

"Go back inside and pick up a couple of people, okay?" she said, snagging her bag off the table. "Anyone that's around. I'll be there as soon as I can."

She pulled into the carpark just as Donnie was coming out of the building, his eyes wide and hair unkempt. There were two men following close behind him.

"Alright, where we going?" she asked, getting out of her car. "We can't fuck around."

"Get in," he said, starting for his car. She slid into the passenger seat, touching the cigarette burn on the dashboard as Donnie pulled out of the lot with a squeal of tyres.

They sped through the streets, ignoring traffic signals. Kate gripped her gun with one hand and the seat with the other, fingernails digging into the leather.

They skidded to a halt in front of an old warehouse. There was a thin crack of light coming out from under a small door at the side. Kate took a deep breath and stepped out of the car.

The air outside was silent. Kate tried to ignore the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach and tried the door. It was locked.

She took a step back and kicked the door as hard as she could, sending it flying open with a bang. Holding her gun in front of her, she stepped into the room.

There was a man tied to a chair sitting in the middle of the room, face so swollen and covered in blood he was unrecognisable. A Brotherhood soldier was standing in front of him, holding a baseball bat. There were two men leaning against the wall on the other side of the room, and, perched on a desk, Jessica, idly filing her nails. Her feet were balanced on the back of a chair just below her.

Kate lifted her gun, using her free hand to brace, and put a bullet through the head of the man with a baseball bat. The figure in the chair didn't react. Kate clenched her jaw.

"Stay where you are," she said, shifting her aim towards the men at the back of the room as they reached for their weapons.

The others filed into the room behind her.

"Donnie," said Jessica. "I knew we should have picked you up too." She looked up. "Katie, good to see you again."

Kate ignored her, gingerly walking over to the chair in the middle of the room. He was motionless, slumped against the ropes. "Carlos?" she said, quietly. "Carlito?"

He took a deep, shuddering breath, weakly trying to raise his head.

"Donnie, get him out of here," she said, taking a step back. "He needs to get to a hospital."

He stepped forward, scrambling to untie Carlos.

"I've been wanting to talk to you for a while," said Jessica. "You see, I finally figured out where I recognised you from."

Kate's head snapped to look at her. "Really." She narrowed her eyes.

"Mm-hmm." Jessica gave her a sly smile. "You look so different, without the blonde highlights and a full face of makeup. Couldn't imagine seeing you at the Bistro these days."

Kate looked into Jessica's face. Her black-rimmed eyes were sparkling with excitement; her smile almost childlike in its enthusiasm. Kate turned to the side, raising her gun, and shot both the men standing against the wall. She didn't bother to watch as they slumped to the ground. When she turned back, Jessica's smile had faded.

"Donnie, I need you to get everyone the fuck out of here right now," she said.

"Are you going to be-" he began.

"Just _get out_ ," she snarled.

She kept her gun trained on Jessica as he hurried everyone out of the warehouse.

"Hell of a way to get my attention," she said, once the door had closed behind them.

"Sorry, was he important?" asked Jess, eyes wide.

Kate didn't rise to the bait. "Everyone's important," she said. "What did you want me for?"

"I just wanted to find out for myself what happened to the great Katie Parkes," said Jess. "They still talk about you, you know."

"Great," said Kate, flatly. "You tell anyone else?"

Jess shook her head.

"Okay." Kate lowered the gun a fraction. "So how'd you find out?"

"We met once," said Jess. "My parents were dropping my sister off at college for the year. You were her - friend? Roommate? I don't remember now."

Kate's eyes widened. "Amy," she said. "You're Amy- _fucking_ -Parish's sister. I remember your little fucking pigtails. How old were you, twelve?"

"Something like that."

"How's Amy doing?" asked Kate. "I heard she hooked up with Mark after I - left."

"They're getting married next April," said Jessica. "In Steelport."

"Boy," said Kate. "They are going to miss having you at their wedding."

"Wait!" Jessica held up a hand. "Just wait. I didn't kill him. I just wanted to talk."

"You didn't think about calling my cellphone?" asked Kate.

"Maero didn't want me to," said Jessica sulkily.

"Alright," said Kate. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"About you," said Jessica. "About who you were. About who you are now."

"Not interested," said Kate. "I wasn't anything then, and I'm not now either."

Jessica hopped off the edge of the desk. "Why does it matter?" she asked. "You've done way worse things since you've been in the Saints than that one night at Stilwater U."

Kate sighed. "It matters," she said. "Because that one fucking night ruined my life. It fucking ruined everything I'd been trying to achieve. Every chance I had at something better. Jess, I had nothing. No scholarship. No friends. No boyfriend - but, obviously, Amy was there to pick up the pieces on _that_ front. My mother wouldn't let me come home to stay because she was too ashamed. I lost _everything_."

"You did alright for yourself, didn't you?" asked Jessica.

Kate gestured to herself with the gun. "You think this is what I wanted to be doing with my life? Just out of a five-year coma because I fucked up one too many times? I'm here because there was no fucking way I could get a job with that on my record." She held up her hand, listing off the counts on her fingers. "Felony possession schedule II; indecent exposure; assaulting a police officer - that was it. Forget about the Olympics, forget about getting into any other college in the United States, forget about anything I ever wanted to do with my life, because that was it. That was it, I had no other choices left."

"Wow," said Jessica. "You know, this isn't what I was expecting."

"Kind of a downer?" sneered Kate. "I mean, these days someone might have offered me a reality show, but back then no one wanted to know me. Including your sister. And I guess that brings us right around to 'what in the fuck am I going to do with you'?"

Jessica looked up at her, eyes wide. "I'm not going to tell anyone," she said.

Kate tapped the barrel of the gun against her thigh thoughtfully. "I'm going to regret this," she said. "Sit down on the chair behind the desk."

Jessica pulled the chair out and sat down on it.

"Now, cover your eyes with your hands, and put your head down on the desk."

Kate closed her eyes for a long moment as Jessica did what she asked. She walked over to stand directly behind her.

"Okay, good," said Kate. "Now, count to two hundred."

"Then can I go?" asked Jessica.  
"Yes," said Kate. "But you have to leave town tonight, and never come back."

"O-okay," said Jessica. "One. Two. Three."

Kate lifted her hand with the gun in it, slowly.

"Four-"

She squeezed the trigger, twice. The warehouse was silent.

"Fuck," said Kate, her voice cracking. " _Fuck_!" She threw the gun into the corner of the room and grabbed two fistfuls of her hair. "Shit. Damn it." She reached for her phone, and dialed Pierce's number.

"Kate!" Pierce answered the phone. "Did you hear about Carlos?"

She couldn't breathe. "No," she croaked. "What happened?"

"They made it to the hospital okay!" he said.

"Fuck you!" she yelled into the mouthpiece. "Fuck you, I thought you were going to say he was dead. Fuck." She hung up, let out a shaky breath, then dialled Johnny.

"Hey," he said. "You hear Carlos made it to hospital okay?"

"Yes," she said. "I need your help with cleanup."

"On my way," he said.

She waited outside for his car, sitting on the edge of the pier with her feet dangling off the sides. The night was cool and still, moonlight slanting across the rippling sea. She squeezed her eyes shut until she heard Johnny's car pull up next to her. She got to her feet.

"Inside," she said, jerking her head towards the door.

She followed Johnny back into the warehouse, watching him as he noted the dead bodies about the room. He walked over to Jessica, leaned over her for a moment, then turned back to Kate.

"She didn't even know it was coming," he said. "Did she?"

She shook her head, not trusting her voice.

He shrugged. "Up to you," he said. "Good job. I've got some gas cans in the car. Bring them in, would you?"

She swallowed. "Sure thing," she said.


	44. Lying is the most fun

Kate sat by Carlos' bed. The hospital room smelled like antiseptic, every surface gleaming and white. Rain was beating against the window.

His chest rose and fell with the mechanical hiss and whirr of the ventilator. His arms lay by his sides, on top of the thin white blanket, his fingers too mangled and swollen for her to touch. A row of thick dark stitches snaked across his newly-shaven skull. The bruising on his face had started to fade.

"Hey Carlito," she said quietly. He didn't give any indication he'd heard her.

"It's been a few days," she continued. "Sorry. I ran into your mother and one of your sisters, I think, last time I was here. They, uh, suggested I didn't come back, but I - wanted to see how you were doing."

She leaned her elbows on her knees and stared at the spotless green floor. "I shouldn't have-" she began, but cut herself off.

"Jesus Christ, Carlos," she said. "There've been - too many close calls lately. You. Johnny. Me, even. Shaundi wasn't really hurt, but she could have been. I fucked up. I'm fucking up. I started some shit and I wasn't prepared to deal with the consequences."

She dropped her head into her hands. "I shouldn't be doing this," she said quietly. "I've just made everything worse."

Her phone started buzzing. She shook her head to clear it, fished the phone out of her pocket, and stared at the words private number on the screen.

She took a deep breath and let it out before answering. "Yeah."

"Kate," said Dex. "Ready for tonight?"

She closed her eyes. "Guess it's a little late to cancel."

"It really is," he said. "I've sent champagne up to your room."

She half-smiled. "You know I can't drink anything that costs more than ten dollars a bottle," she said. "Good quality wine just tastes like dust."

"You'll get used to it," said Dex.

"Why are you trying to Eliza Doolittle me so hard?" she asked.

"Because, you have-" he hesitated. "So much potential."

"What are you, my guidance counsellor?" she asked.

"I don't mean it like that," he said irritably.

"I know," she said. "Jesus. Still weird."

"It-" he began. "Never mind. There'll be a limo at eight, waiting downstairs."

"Do you not trust me to actually come?" she asked.

"I just don't want you to have to drive," he said.

"That's - pretty responsible, I guess," she said. "Fine. Thanks."

"See you soon."

Just as Dex had said, there was a bottle of champagne, nestled in a bucket of ice, on the table in back at the Hapton Hotel. She lifted it out by the neck dubiously. Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé was printed on the label.

"Aww, it's a pink one," she said to herself. She dislodged the cork with a practiced twist and poured the pink fizz into a tilted champagne flute.

She carried it with her into the bathroom and put it down next to the cosmetics spread across the marble countertop.

Her face in the mirror stared back at her. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her skin looked pale and wan. "You can do better than that," she murmured, reaching for her makeup brushes.

* * *

The limousine was waiting for her at the door downstairs, just as Dex had said it would be. She started forward, unsteady in her heels, as a man in a tuxedo opened the door for her. She glanced at him, taken aback, but he just held the door open for her deferentially until she got in.

She tugged at her dress as she settled into the leather seats, trying to get comfortable. The purple sequins had looked fantastic, shimmering under the dressing room lights at Impressions, but sitting down, the plastic discs dug into her skin. She tried to scratch without leaving marks on her exposed skin.

There was more champagne in the back of the limousine. "Jesus Christ," she whispered, pouring herself a fresh glass as the limo pulled smoothly onto the road. Dex must have wanted her to be comfortable. Or at least compliant. The last thought made her pause, glass touching her lips, but after a moment she shrugged and drained the glass.

She watched the city lights from the window as they spun past in the darkening evening. She didn't know how long it had been when the limousine pulled up outside the town hall. Kate considered asking the driver to go somewhere else, but before she could say anything, the limousine door opened and the same man in a tuxedo ushered her out.

The cityhall was a blaze of light, decorated with lanterns and blue and gold ribbons. She paused, hesitant, on the carpet, people flowing past on either side. She clutched her handbag tightly.

"Kate." Dex was at her side suddenly in a dark suit. He took her arm. "You look fantastic." He leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Smile," he whispered. "There are cameras."

"Thanks," she managed, as they walked up the stairs and through an unobtrusive side door. "For, uh, setting this up, I guess."

He led her around the security line, past the metal detectors and the bag check. "Thank you," he said. "For coming. I really appreciate it."

The cityhall's huge wooden dance floor was bracketed by long tables, covered in white tablecloths that swept the floor. Bouquets of flowers spilled along the tables' length. A string quartet played unobtrusively at the corner of the dance floor.

There's someone I want you to meet." Dex led her towards a small group of people, pausing to snag a champagne glass off a passing waiters' tray and handed it to her on the way.

"Jane," he said. A diminutive Latina woman with perfect hair and impeccable makeup turned towards them. "I'd like you to meet Kate. Kate, Jane Valderrama."

Jane held out a hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Kate," said Jane. "Dexter has told me such a lot about you."

"Has he?" Kate asked uncomfortably.

"Nothing but good copy," Jane replied, flashing a set of large white teeth as she smiled. "Listen, I would love to do an interview with you sometime."

"I don't know if that-" Kate began.

"Softballs only," Jane hastened to add. "Something very sympathetic. All the challenges you've overcome, that kind of thing."

"I think it could be great for your image," said Dex. "Which, quite frankly, could do with a bit of rehab."

"You are trying to Eliza Doolittle me," Kate said, quietly, frowning.

Dex touched her arm lightly. "I'm not," he said. "I just think this could work out well for both of us. If you-" He stopped, abruptly, as his phone began to ring. A flicker of anger passed across his face as he reached for it, but vanished as he looked at the screen.

"Dexter Jackson," he answered. He was silent for a moment. "I see," he said, and then hung up. "Kate, something has - come up. I'll be back as soon as I can." He turned. "Jane." He nodded, and turned on his heel.

Jane cast a sly glance towards Kate. "This seems like a good time for me to find my cameraman," she said. "I hope you consider what I've said." A moment later, she was gone too.

Kate took a step back, now alone. She turned slowly to look at the crowd, desperate for a familiar face. She could feel her heart rate increasing, and gripped the stem of her glass a little tighter.

After what seemed like an eternity, she spotted a flash of bright blue jacket, and made her way through the thronging crowd.

"Hello, Chief," she said. "Didn't expect to see you here tonight."

Troy had been standing alone. He turned to her with a raised eyebrow and gave her a quick once over. "Could say the same for you," he said, slowly, but gave her a surprisingly genuine smile. "Didn't think this was your scene." He hesitated a moment, a frown flickering across his face. "Christ, please tell me you're not here to pull some kind of heist."

Kate grinned. "I'm here as a guest of our mutual friend Mr Jackson," she said, reproachfully. "They let me in the VIP entrance and everything."

"Okay," said Troy. "But that just means they didn't make you go through the metal detectors." His frown deepened. "You carrying?"

"Of course," she said. "But no, seriously, I've got nothing planned. I didn't tell anyone I was coming. I think I'm Dex's latest project."

Troy's frown faded into a sceptical grimace. "Interesting role. How do you feel about that?"

"Not really sure why I agreed to this," she admitted.

"Well, that makes two of us," he said. "I hate these fucking things."

"Are you allowed to drink?" she asked.

"Two drinks max while I'm wearing the uniform," he said, grimly. "It's the look of the thing."

"Sounds terrible," she said. "What's this whole fundraiser for, anyway? I haven't figured that out yet."

Troy rolled his eyes. "It's for the Mayor's re-election campaign."

"Is it?" Kate looked around at the room. "I don't see her name on anything."

"Yeah, that's because she's paying for this with public money," he said. "Nominally it's for something like, I don't know, getting the homeless off the streets. One of her public platforms, you know? But the city's picking up the tab."

"Isn't that illegal?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

He held up his hands. "Not my territory," he said. "That's IRS. I don't touch tax law unless we get sent a warrant."

"If you say so." She glanced over at the dance floor. A scattering of couples were spread across the floor. "Do you want to dance?"

His eyebrows lifted in surprise. "I - don't think that would be a good idea."

"Why?" she asked. "It'd be like that one scene in Batman Returns, where Batman and Catwoman are dancing and they figure out each other's secret identities at the same time."

"What is it with you and fucking Batman?" he asked, shaking his head. "I really don't get it."

She laughed.

"I don't want to crush your dreams or anything, but you're not great at this 'fighting crime' business."

"I am the number one threat to gang-related activity in Stilwater." she said. "I read someone did a study."

"It doesn't count if you're fighting crime so you can commit more crimes," he said. "That's a fucking takeover, not cleaning up the city."

She shrugged. "If we didn't live in a society that perpetuates these huge financial disparities of income then I wouldn't be able to do this kind of stuff," she said.

"Are you trying to sell me on communism now?" he asked.

She smiled. "Course not. I'm doing quite well out of the current system. Why would I want to change that? This city doesn't have a gang problem, it's got a poverty problem. The gang problem's just a symptom. Removing me doesn't solve the problem." She tilted her head to one side. "As we've seen."

"This city's got a whole lot more problems than that." He rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "I don't make the rules, Kate," he said. "Just enforce them. The why's not up to me."

"Well who is it up to, the Mayor?" she asked. She turned to look for her in the crowd.

Troy grasped her gently by the wrist. "Please don't go pitch your ideas for social change to her right now," he said.

She turned back to him and took a step closer. "You really think I make this city a worse place?" she asked, quietly.

"Course not," he said, lowering his voice to match hers. "I-"

His words were cut off by the sound of smashing glass and splintering wood, as the windows at the both sides of the city hall burst inwards, sending sparkling shards skidding across the floor. "Everybody on the ground!" came a voice through a megaphone.


End file.
